Owner Wins

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Facts: A coffee shop tenant signed a lease for space in a strip mall, and signed a personal guaranty, promising that he would be financially responsible if the lease were defaulted on. The tenant later sold the coffee shop. When the new coffee shop tenant stopped paying rent, the owner sought payment from the guarantor. A district court agreed with the owner that the guarantor was responsible for the rent. The guarantor appealed.

Decision: A Minnesota appeals court upheld the lower court’s decision.

Facts: The state health department forced a frozen yogurt shop tenant to suspend its operations until the waste water system for its space in a strip mall complied with state requirements. The tenant, who was unaware that its water system was inadequate, complained to the owner, who asserted that it was the tenant’s responsibility to bring the system into compliance at its own cost.

Facts: A lease for storage space for casino equipment gave the tenant an early termination right, provided that it sent a letter in writing to the owner and paid a termination fee by a certain date. During a phone call shortly before the early termination deadline, the tenant told the owner that it intended to move out of the space and that it would send a formal letter and payment in compliance with the lease terms.

Facts: A retail tenant’s lease for shopping center space gave it the right to stop operating for a “reduced occupancy period” if a major co-tenant left the center until it was replaced. While a reduced occupancy period was in effect, the tenant decided to change its retail concept and remodeled the store during the closure.

Facts: The shopping center where a general store-type tenant rented space was damaged when the area experienced flooding. The tenant sued the owner of the shopping center, among other parties including the adjacent tenant (a grocery store) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The tenant claimed that the owner could have taken measures to make the premises water resistant, such as caulking the exterior of the building and constructing a membrane around it. The owner asked the court for a judgment in its favor without a trial.

Facts: A tenant that rented five floors of an office building and the attached parking garage sublet the garage space to a parking garage operator. The owner later discovered water damage in the garage. It sued the tenant, asserting that the tenant was obligated under the lease to maintain the garage and its failure to do so caused the water damage.

Facts: A tenant rented space for its bakery in a shopping center. After the tenant moved out of the space, the center’s owner demanded that it pay real estate taxes and operating expenses incurred while it still occupied its space, plus the cost of restoring the space after it left. The tenant refused to pay, and the owner sued it.

Facts: A building with residential space for a cooperative (plaintiff) and commercial space on the ground floor that the plaintiff leased to 11 tenants was located in an historic district, meaning that changes could be made to its exterior only with the approval of a preservation committee.

Facts: A trust that owned property that had been used as retail space signed a lease with a tenant that planned to use the space as a fast-casual restaurant. The lease gave the tenant the option to purchase the property at any time for $110,000. The tenant spent $300,000 on buildouts.

Facts: A commercial developer sought an anchor tenant for the mall it was building. As an inducement to attract a certain national big-box retailer, the developer signed a purchase and sale agreement with the tenant. Under the agreement, the developer agreed to sell 27 acres to the tenant for $10 and pay the company $5 million in cash. In return, the tenant would build and open a store, operate it for at least 12 years, and refrain from building a competing store in western Washington for five years.