Owner Loses

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Facts: Shortly after a tenant leased retail space in a shopping center to operate her clothing store, water began seeping through leaks in the roof. By June 2006 the entire store was flooded, damaging much of the inventory. After a brief re-opening, the tenant's store was closed permanently in November 2006. The tenant sued the owner for breach of its lease obligation to provide a serviceable roof.

Facts: A tenant alleged that after he entered into possession of two units in a commercial building under a rental agreement, he found that the door lock had been changed and a “for rent” sign had been put up. He was told that he had been “locked out” because he failed to pay rent.

He regained access to the premises two days later after the owner changed the lock back as advised by the police. The tenant sued the owner for money dama...

Facts: In December 2005, Quincy Mall sued Kerasotes Showplace Theatres to recover alleged unpaid rent due under the commercial lease. In May 2008, the trial court ruled in favor of the theatres.

The owner argued that it was not its responsibility to replace the tenant's roof and that the tenant should not be allowed to offset the cost of the roof replacement against its rent.

Decision: The appeals court upheld the trial court's ruling i...

Facts: A large retail bank approached an owner about leasing space so that it could open a branch. After several discussions and an assessment of the premises, the bank determined that the premises would not be suitable for its design. As a result, the bank sought and found suitable space to the west of the premises.

After securing the suitable space, the bank went back to the owner of the premises and signed a nonbinding letter of intent (LOI), meaning tha...

Facts: A tenant and an owner entered into a five-year lease, and the tenant made a $10,000 security deposit. Three years into the lease, the tenant approached the owner, wanting to transfer its lease to another business owner. The owner refused, and the tenant and the new business owner signed a new lease with the owner. The new lease allowed the new business owner to take over the space, but the tenant remained partly responsible for the space.

Facts: A tenant agreed to lease space in a strip mall. The tenant leased only one space, but at the time the lease was signed, the space was not big enough for the tenant to run its business. To accommodate the tenant, the owner offered to let the tenant use an adjacent space until it could modify the leased space. The tenant took over the space.

Facts: A large retail bank approached an owner about leasing space so that it could open a branch. After several discussions and an assessment of the premises, the bank determined that the premises would not be suitable for its design. As a result, the bank sought and found suitable space to the west of the premises.

After securing the suitable space, the bank went back to the owner of the premises and signed a nonbinding letter of intent (LOI), meaning tha...

Facts: A tenant entered into a 10-year lease that contained a clause giving it the option to purchase the property at the end of the lease period. The lease did not indicate how the option to purchase must be exercised. After approximately two years, the tenant merged with another company and sought to exercise its right to purchase the property by giving the owner notice that it intended to exercise the purchase option. The owner never responded.

Facts: In 2005, an owner and tenant entered into a five-year lease. In May 2007, after the tenant failed to pay its rent and placed a “Store Closing” sign in its window, the owner began looking for a replacement tenant.

The owner signed a lease with a new tenant for a period of five years and two months, with a start date of June 1, 2007. As part of the agreement, the new tenant was given possession of the premises on June 1, 2007, rent free for...

Facts: Shortly after signing a lease, the tenant experienced significant leaking from the roof of her building. After several attempts by the owner to fix the leaking roof and an eventual roof replacement, the tenant moved back into the space. Another storm caused additional water damage and made the space uninhabitable. The tenant moved out and sued the owner, alleging that the lease required it to provide a serviceable, leak-free roof. The circuit court ruled i...