LEASE LAW TERMINOLOGY: commercial lease | residential lease dispute | terms of lease agreement | amendments | renewal | breach of contract | breaching lease | lessor | lessee | tenants | landlords | lock out | eviction | forcible entry and detainer | right to possession | writ of possession | notice of termination | tenant at suffrage | holdover tenant | title to property | compliance | estoppel | mitigation of damages | rescission | DTPA | notice | misrepresentaton | nondisclosure | default | noncompliance | non-payment of rent | failure to pay | Recent Appeals from Commercial Lease and Related Cases Decided by the Houston Courts of Appeals Merry Homes, Inc. v. Luu (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Feb. 18, 2010)(illegality as bar to enforcement of commercial lease, liquor regulation, zoning) In this commercial lease dispute, we determine whether a landlord may enforce a lease to operate a “nightclub or bar” and for “no other” purpose when the tenant cannot legally obtain a liquor license for the leased premises and the lease requires that any activity on the premises comply with applicable law.We hold that the trial court correctly determined that the lease was void because Luu could not perform his obligation under the lease to avoid violating a City of Houston ordinance. We further hold that the trial court’s award of $23,500 in attorney’s fees to Luu was not inequitable or unjust. We therefore affirm the judgment of the trial court. AFFIRM TRIAL COURT JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Bland Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Bland and Massengale 01-09-00187-CV Merry Homes, Inc. v. Chi Hung Luu Appeal from 151st District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Michael Engelhart Hines v. JPMorgan Chase Bank NA (Tex.App.- Houston [14th Dist.] Oct. 9, 2008)(per curiam) (appeal from commercial eviction possession order not authorized, DWOJ) DISMISSED: Per Curiam Before Justices Brock Yates, Seymore and Boyce 14-08-00707-CV Bernice H. Hines, d/b/a Krestmont Kiddie College v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.,, Et Al. Appeal from County Civil Court at Law No 4 of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Roberta Anne Lloyd Salymeh v. Plaza Centro, LLC (Tex. App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Aug. 26, 2008)(Seymore) (lease law, landlord-tenant, forcible detainer, right of possession, lost rents not proven) AFFIRMED: Opinion by Justice Seymore Before Justices Fowler, Seymore and Guzman 14-06-01101-CV Mohammad Salymeh d/b/a Muebleria Y Bazar Tierrablanca v. Plaza Centro, LLCAppeal from County Civil Court at Law No 2 of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Judge Gary Michael Block Randall's Food and Drugs, LP v. Patton (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Aug 21,2008)(Radack) (lease law commercial, sublease, duty to mitigate damages, anticipatory repudiation) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Chief Justice Radack Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Keyes and Higley 01-06-00821-CV Randall's Food and Drugs, L.P. v. Bill Patton d/b/a Linux Professional Group Appeal from Civil County Court at Law No 4 of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Roberta A. Lloyd Was commercial lease ambiguous? Narsi v. Weingarten Realty Investors (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Nov. 29, 2007)(Hanks) (commercial breach of lease, mitigation defense, attorney's fees) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Hanks 01-06-00690-CV Amirali M. Narsi v. Weingarten Realty Investors Appeal from 189th District Court of Harris County (Hon. William R. Burke, Jr.) Shopping center tenant's fraud claims fail - Summary judgment for defendants affirmed Loewe v. Trammell Crow Co. (Tex.App.- Houston [14th Dist.] Nov. 15, 2007)(Edelman)(commercial lease, DTPA, Real Estate Licensing Act, RELA, common law statutory fraud claim, hearsay objection to web site printout sustained, summary judgment evidence stricken) AFFIRMED: Opinion by Justice Edelman 14-06-00971-CV Jeanenne Loewe, Individually, and d/b/a The Elite Salon of 1960 v. Trammell Crow Company and Trammell Crow Houston, Ltd. Appeal from 334th District Court of Harris County (Hon. Sharon McCally) Broussard v. Knox (Tex.App.- Houston [14th Dist.] Aug. 16, 2007)(Anderson) (commercial lease, landlord-tenant, DTPA) AFFIRMED: Opinion by Justice Anderson 14-06-00225-CV Joseph H. Broussard d/b/a The Billiard Emporium v. Myrtle A. Knox d/b/a Mainland Plaza Shopping Center, Knox's Interest's, Et Al, Attorney James C. Daniels, James C. Daniels, PC., Et Al--Appeal from 10th District Court of Galveston County (Hon. David Edward Garner) 7979 Airport Garage, LLC v. Dollar Rent a Car Systems (Tex.App.- Houston [14th Dist.] Apr. 27, 2007)(Guzman)(lease case, repairs, contractual attorneys fees, fee segregation, counterclaim) AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED & REMANDED IN PART: Opinion by Justice Guzman 14-05-00484-CV 7979 Airport Garage, LLC v. Dollar Rent a Car Systems, Inc. Appeal from 80th District Court of Harris County (Judge Kent Sullivan) Hong Kong Development Inc. v. Kim Loan Nguyen (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Jun. 7, 2007)(Taft) [commercial real estate, lease, forcible entry and detainer] AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT IN PART, REVERSE TC JUDGMENT IN PART, AND REMAND CASE TO TC FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS: Opinion by Justice Taft 01-04-00586-CV Hong Kong Development, Inc., Hai Du Duong, and Phuong Truong Tu v. Kim Loan Nguyen d/b/a Alpha Baker Appeal from Co Civil Ct at Law No 1 of Harris County (Hon. Jack Cagle) |
| Recent Appellate Decisions in Commercial Lease Disputes and other Landlord-Tenant Cases (Tex.App.- Houston 2009 2008 2007) |
Texas Supreme Court Cases Gym-N-I Playground, Inc. v. Snider, No 05-0197 (Tex. Apr. 20, 2007)(Jefferson)(commercial lease, "as is" provision, warranty disclaimer enforceable, bars suit) |