Also known as: lease agreements · lease · rental agreement
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A contract by which one party grants another exclusive possession of identified property for a fixed term in exchange for rent or other consideration. The agreement must identify the parties, the premises, the duration, and the rent to satisfy the statute of frauds when the term exceeds one year. Possession taken under an invalid lease creates a tenancy at will or periodic tenancy depending on rent payment.
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Landmark Realty owns two shopping centers and leases one to a national retailer under a long-term ground lease. The lease transfers substantially all income-producing assets, leaving the corporation with only a single small parking lot that generates negligible revenue. Shareholders must approve the transaction because the disposition leaves the corporation without a significant continuing business activity.
Laura Lewis and Landmark Realty negotiate a three-year office lease but never sign a writing that satisfies the statute of frauds. Laura takes possession and pays monthly rent that the landlord accepts. The arrangement creates a month-to-month periodic tenancy containing all lease terms except duration.
Lexicon Media, a limited partnership, owns a warehouse and proposes to lease the entire property to an outside firm for ten years. The lease is outside the ordinary course of business. All partners must consent before the general partner may execute the lease agreement.
Lola Langley signs a letter expressing interest in leasing retail space from Lotus Pharmaceuticals. After further negotiations the parties orally agree on an eight-year term and both sign a second memorandum that omits the property description. The two signed documents together satisfy the statute of frauds as a sufficient memorandum.
Loyal Insurance routinely leases office equipment to clients as part of its standard operations. The company executes a new equipment lease agreement with a customer without seeking shareholder approval. No shareholder vote is required because the disposition occurs in the usual and regular course of business.
Lucas Lee signs a one-year apartment lease with Landmark Realty. On the day the lease is made the unit has no working plumbing and the landlord has not corrected the condition. Lucas may terminate the lease before taking possession because the premises are unsuitable for residential use.
Shareholder approval is required when the lease disposes of assets outside the usual course of business and leaves the corporation without a significant continuing business activity. A corporation retains a significant activity if it keeps a business representing at least twenty-five percent of total assets and income on a consolidated basis.
Possession alone creates a tenancy at will. When rent is also paid and accepted, a periodic tenancy arises containing every lease term except duration. Substantial performance clearly referable to the lease terms gives the agreement full effect.
…return on its investment. Appellants own the Grand Central Terminal, which has been designated a landmark. They entered into a lease agreement with a third party to construct a multistory office building above the terminal. The Commission rejected the proposed construction, finding that it would destroy the terminal's historic and…
…an experienced accountant "who for five months conducted negotiations with Burger King over the terms of the franchise and lease agreements, and who obligated himself personally to contracts requiring over time payments that exceeded $1 million." 724 F. 2d, at 1514. Rudzewicz was able to secure a modest reduction in rent and…
…similar to that which we dealt with recently in Faber v. Creswick, supra . There, in a landlord and tenant relationship the lease contained a covenant to have the premises in good repair at the inception of the occupancy. The wife of the tenant was injured by reason of a breach of that
…premises known as the Hotel Bristol at the northwest corner of Forty-second street and Fifth avenue in the city of New York. The lease was for a term of twenty years, commencing May 1, 1902, and ending April 30, 1922. The lessee undertook to change the hotel building for use as shops and offices at a cost of $200,000.…
…to markets throughout the Nation. One of the company’s newest operations is at Parker, Arizona, where, pursuant to a 1964 lease with the Secretary of the Interior, the Colorado River Indian Agency, and the Colorado River Indian Tribes, it undertook to develop approximately 6,400 acres of uncultivated, arid land for…
Yes. The affirmative vote or consent of all partners is required to lease all or substantially all of the partnership property outside the usual and regular course of business.
Separate signed documents may be read together to satisfy the statute of frauds even if neither refers to the other, provided the writings clearly relate to the same transaction.
A tenant may terminate before entry if the leased property is unsuitable for residential use on the date the lease is made and remains unsuitable without the tenant's fault.