Thomas leases a house for a term of five years in a residential neighbour hood on a
Question:
Thomas leases a house for a term of five years in a residential neighbour hood on a wooded lot in the township of Peaceful Valley. In Year 2 of the lease, his Landlord, Louis, drives by and notices that Thomas has cut down several large trees in the backyard. Louis reminds him that his lease contains a clause reserving the right to the landlord to terminate the lease immediately upon the tenant's commission of waste and asks him please not to cut down any more trees. Thomas says he knows about that provision in the lease but tells Louis he is using the timber to construct a storage shed in the backyard, which is halfway completed, and that he shouldn't be concerned over such "trivial" matters. Louis tells Thomas to stop the construction of the shed immediately as a new structure will raise his tax assessment on the property. In Year 3 of the lease, Louis drives by and sees that Thomas has cut down two more large trees and finished the completion of the shed. Louis says, "That's it, I hereby declare you in breach of the lease covenant not to commit waste. I will commence eviction proceedings immediately." In a jurisdiction that follows the rule, statutory law, and reasoning in Foundation Development Corp. v. Loehmann's Inc.,
what is the likely outcome if Thomas seeks to avoid forfeiture and termination of the lease?
Advanced Financial Accounting
ISBN: 978-0137030385
6th edition
Authors: Thomas Beechy, Umashanker Trivedi, Kenneth MacAulay