Opinion ID: 862787
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Lease Agreement

Text: ¶30. In her consideration of the issues previously presented in motions to dismiss and/or summary judgment filed by First Federal and the City, Chancellor Colom reasoned that First Federal and the City should not be ordered to pay any attorney's fees to CHC. She found that neither qualified as a lessee, assignee, or sublessee under the lease, but were merely creditors who were never actual parties to the lease agreement. She further found their participation in the litigation did not make them parties to the lease agreement. We agree. ¶31. There is no authority for the proposition that First Federal and the City's mere participation in the litigation makes them liable for attorney's fees to CHC. Absent contractual provisions or statutory authority, attorney's fees may not be awarded as damages in a case unless punitive damages are proper. Greenlee v. Mitchell, 607 So. 2d 97, 108 (Miss. 1992). Even if the City were a sublessee, without expressly assuming the obligations under the lease, it would not be liable under the lease. See Goldberg v. L.H. Realty Corp., 227 Miss. 345, 86 So. 2d 326 (1956). As to First Federal's liability under the lease, we have held that a bank's security interest in a lease does not render it liable for the obligations of the lessee. MidSouth Rail Corp. v. Citizens Bank & Trust Co., 697 So. 2d 451 (Miss. 1997). We reasoned that because the assignment to Citizens Bank by MidSouth's lessee was only collateral for a loan from the bank, no liability on part of the bank was created by the assignor's action or inaction. Id. at 457.