Opinion ID: 751691
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reasonable Worth

Text: 23 A tenant at sufferance is liable for the reasonable worth of its use and occupancy and/or detention of the premises. See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, § 3; see also Lowell Hous. Auth., 193 N.E.2d at 588. Fixing a reasonable value normally entails a pure finding of fact, id., which we review for clear error only. See McMurray v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 985 F.2d 36, 40 (1st Cir.1993). 24 The court below fixed the reasonable worth of the Dale premises at $9,433.67 per month, primarily in reliance on the rent established in the earlier Smith-Realty Trust sublease. Smith and Dale both challenge this finding, without approaching the required clear error showing. See id. Although Dale presented testimony that the reasonable monthly worth should be set slightly higher ($10,875), the expert witness had never considered the rent established in the Smith-Realty Trust sublease. Absent a showing that the earlier rental agreement established an unreasonable valuation standard for the subsequent use and occupancy, we discern no clear error. See Industrial Gen. Corp. v. Sequoia Pac. Sys. Corp., 44 F.3d 40, 43 (1st Cir.1995) (A finding of fact is ' clearly erroneous when although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.' ) (quoting Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 573, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 1511, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985)). 25 Nevertheless, since the Smith tenancy at sufferance extended over the nineteen-month period between June 1, 1989 and January 1, 1991, and Dale received reasonable rent for the five-month period between August 1, 1990 and January 1, 1991, pursuant to the appeal bond conditions imposed by the state district court, the court below erred in ruling that Dale was owed another $56,602.02 for the six-month period between January 1 and June 30, 1991, at $9,433.67 per month. Accordingly, the district court judgment must be amended to reflect that Smith is obligated to pay Dale $132,071.38 for its use and occupancy during the fourteen-month period June 1, 1989 through August 1, 1990, at $9,433.67 per month, plus interest.