Owner Loses

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Facts: A visitor to an art gallery that consisted of the storage mezzanine (loft) and first floor of a seven-story mixed-use building fell from the loft, which had been used as a bedroom by the tenant for 11 years. There was a knee-high wall around the perimeter of the loft, which overlooked the first floor where artwork had been set up. The tenant installed shutters on top of the wall for privacy when he had converted the loft from a storage area to a bedroom.

Facts: A fast-food restaurant had an exclusive right to sell “sandwiches and subs” in a shopping center that consisted of three buildings (Building A, Building B, and Building C). The fast-food restaurant tenant was located in Building A.

Facts: An office building tenant moved out of its space, but continued to fulfill its lease obligations until the property manager notified it that several previous subcontractors hired by the owner were occupying the space. The subcontractors, all of whom were unauthorized to be on the property, had converted a maintenance closet into a working shower and some office space into bedrooms. The property manager had the subcontractors and their belongings removed fr...

Facts: A lifestyle center comprised of condominiums, retail stores, and restaurants was to be constructed in three phases. A bookstore tenant signed a lease with the lifestyle center's owner for retail space in a building that was not yet completed. Under the lease, the tenant was required to accept the space on the condition that a movie theater, four full-service restaurants, one of which had to be located on “Pad 37” of the property, and at lea...

Facts: A sporting goods store tenant at a shopping mall hired a contractor to hang its sign and provided a ladder for him to use while working. The contractor claimed that he had warned the tenant and mall manager that the feet on the ladder were worn out, but was told to “just continue working with it.” The contractor fell off the ladder while hanging the sign, suffering severe injuries.

Facts: A property manager was hired by his father-in-law, the owner of a struggling shopping center, to manage the property. The owner agreed to compensate the property manager at some point in the future, when or if the center became profitable. The property manager agreed, believing that he had a “deferred compensation deal” with the owner.

Facts: An electronics franchise signed a lease with the owner of a retail lifestyle center.

Facts: A customer was injured when he fell on ice in the parking lot of shopping center that consisted of a several businesses in stand-alone buildings, including a national home improvement tenant. The home improvement tenant's lease required the owner and property manager to maintain the common areas of the property, including providing snow and ice removal. Each tenant was required to pay a pro rata share of common area maintenance costs.

Facts: Two tenant employees were trapped and repeatedly bounced up and down uncontrollably for almost an hour and a half in a malfunctioning elevator in the office building where they worked. The office building was owned and managed by a commercial property management company. Both employees needed medical attention, including surgery, for injuries they had suffered from the bouncing. They sued the property management company, claiming that it had negligently ma...

Facts: A customer slipped and fell on the lobby floor of a Post Office while trying to mail a letter for his employer, injuring his face and head. The customer claimed that he slipped because the lobby floor was wet due to other customers tracking water into the Post Office during a rainstorm.