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What Happened: There was no dispute that a Chicago hair lice removal salon that stopped paying its nearly $5,000 monthly rent was in default under the lease. The issue was whether the landlord could enforce the lease clause granting it 27 months of future rent as liquidated damages. The lower court ruled that the clause was enforceable, and the tenant appealed.
Ruling: The Illinois appeal court reversed, finding the liquidated damages clause void as a matter of public policy.
What Happened: In the summer of 2018, a tax firm tenant shut down its business and moved out of the building it was leasing. The surrender was documented in a written agreement that the tenant and landlord both signed. A few months later, the property was sold. During a severe cold spell in January 2019, the water pipes froze and burst, inflicting flooding damage so severe that the building had to be demolished.
What Happened: The tenant was behind on its rent, and the restaurant was closed. So, the landlord assumed that the property was abandoned and exercised its lease right to reenter and change the locks. It then sued the tenant for unpaid rent and late charges. The tenant denied that it had abandoned the property and countersued the landlord for illegal lockout and wrongful possession of the personal property inside the restaurant. Finding the landlord more credible, the court dismissed the tenant’s counterclaims and ordered it to pay $76,567 in back rent and damages.
What Happened: A nonprofit landlord leased property to a for-profit utility to operate a solar-powered electric-generating facility. The lease required the tenant to:
What Happened: A shopping center tenant exercised its supposed right to pay reduced rent under a co-tenancy clause that kicked in when either: (1) the center lacked either three anchor tenants; or (2) 60 percent of the space wasn’t leased. While acknowledging that a trigger condition had occurred (that is, the closing of anchors Sports Chalet and Toys “R” Us), the landlord claimed the reduced rent was an unenforceable penalty, citing a 2015 California case called Grand Prospect Partners, L.P. v.
What Happened: After a mutually beneficial tenancy of over two decades, Comcast moved out of its Michigan corporate headquarters. The move didn’t go exactly as planned, and the company was unable to remove equipment from its in-house fitness center by the lease termination date. Comcast had the equipment removed the very next day but accidentally forgot to retrieve a disassembled table in the conference room. The landlord claimed that Comcast didn’t return full possession on the termination date and sued for holdover rent.
What Happened: A restaurant tenant with a habit of paying rent late took advantage of the COVID-19 shutdown to make some improvements to the space at its own expense, assuming that it would be able to renew once the lease came to an end in August 2021. But the tenant was still in big-time arrears and the landlord nixed the renewal, claiming that the tenant didn’t give proper renewal notice. With relocation out of the question, the restaurant filed for bankruptcy and remained in the space. The landlord then sued to lift the automatic stay so it could evict the tenant.
What Happened: The town of Santa Monica passed an ordinance requiring a commercial building leased to a delicatessen/catering firm to be retrofitted for earthquakes. The landlord claimed that the tenant, who had leased the building since 1973, was the real owner and thus financially responsible for complying with the ordinance; the tenant claimed just the opposite. The trial court ruled that the landlord had to pay for the seismic retrofit.
Ruling: The California state court agreed and tossed the landlord’s appeal.
What Happened: A government tenant that had leased the floor of an office building for nearly 30 years left behind a mess when it moved out. In addition to removing electronic door locks, office partitions, a fire and alarm system, and other items the landlord claimed as its own property, the tenant left the elevator in unworkable condition. The landlord sued for over $350,000 in damages. While the jury found the tenant liable, it awarded the landlord only $65,000.
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