Owner Loses

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Facts: After a retail tenant didn't pay its rent, the owner of the space sued it for defaulting on its lease. The tenant didn't dispute the owner's claim that it had breached the lease. Instead, it argued that the owner was obligated to mitigate its damages—that is, take advantage of any reasonable opportunity to reduce or minimize the damage—before it could collect any money from the tenant.

Decision: A Connecticut housing court ruled in favor of the tenant.

Facts: A retail tenant assigned its lease to a drugstore, but asked the owner if it could remain primarily liable for the strip mall space, instead of reducing or entirely relieving itself from liability. The owner objected to the assignment and sued the tenant.

The trial court ruled in favor of the owner. It pointed out that the tenant's lease with the owner provides that the owner is entitled to terminate the lease if the tenant: (1) makes a late rent payment; or (2) is relieved from liability or reduces its liability by assigning or subletting to another business.

Facts: A tenant that operated a tanning salon in a single, one-story building sent a written complaint about the leaky ceiling to the owner, which didn't fully repair the problem. The tenant's employee was hit by plaster that fell from the ceiling into her eye, causing her to fall and injure her shoulder. The tenant sued the owner.

Facts: The owner of two vacant warehouses, one of which had some interior office space, leased the buildings to a construction supply company that planned to convert the warehouses into a retail store. After demolishing the office space, the tenant halted renovations for economic reasons, and the property became rundown.

Facts: A career center tenant signed a lease with the owner of an office building to rent space in four office suites for an initial term of 124 months. The building was sold, and the tenant and new owner extended the lease. The owner later claimed that the tenant had defaulted on its lease, and it sued the tenant to recover the space. The tenant claimed that the owner could not evict it from the four suites, because it hadn't delivered two notices properly according to the lease terms. The owner asked the court for a judgment in its favor without a trial.

Facts: A tenant leased office space for its law firm. The lease term was four years and provided for two five-year extensions. After the final extension of the lease term expired, the tenant continued to occupy the space on a month-to-month basis, paying rent as specified in the holdover section of the expired lease. The owner later sued to evict the tenant, terminating the month-to-month tenancy. It claimed that the tenant failed to pay rent equal to the “use and occupancy” of the space, which it asserted was significantly higher than the month-to-month rent.

Facts: The lease between a shopping center owner and a restaurant tenant provided: “All notices, consents, approvals, or demands required under this Lease shall be in writing, and shall be deemed delivered when either: (1) deposited in the United States mail, certified or registered, postage prepaid; (2) transmitted by telegraphic or electronic means, with proof of service provided; or (3) delivered in person at the business address specified in this Section of the Lease or [emphasis added] to such other address as either party may from time to time designate for this pu

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 from the tenant's space.