Opinion ID: 519559
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment

Text: 8 The primary issue in this case is whether the interference with Infinity's radio waves from the construction of Two Prudential Plaza constitutes a breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment. Such a covenant is implied in all leases in Illinois. Blue Cross Association v. 666 North Lake Shore Drive Associates, 100 Ill.App.3d 647, 652, 56 Ill.Dec. 190, 193, 427 N.E.2d 270, 273 (1st Dist.1981). The covenant is breached when the lessor substantially interferes with the lessee's use and enjoyment of the premises. Id. 9 Infinity's claim is essentially one for access to the air space surrounding Prudential Plaza. To find that Prudential has interfered with Infinity's right to quiet enjoyment of the premises, we would in effect have to find that Infinity has a right to the use of the air waves extending across the space on which Two Prudential Plaza is being constructed, at least as against use by Prudential. As there is no such easement expressly granted in the lease, we would have to find an implied easement for radio wave transmission with which Prudential could not interfere. The Illinois courts have not directly addressed the issue of easements for radio frequencies, but the Illinois Supreme Court has recognized an analogy between television waves and easements for light and air. People ex rel. Hoogasian v. Sears, Roebuck and Company, 52 Ill.2d 301, 287 N.E.2d 677, 678, cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1001, 93 S.Ct. 323, 34 L.Ed.2d 262 (1972). We believe such an analogy is equally applicable here. Although the Illinois case law in this area is sparse, it does show that Illinois courts will not imply an easement for light or air in a lease. 10 The district court's decision relies primarily on Keating v. Springer, 146 Ill. 481, 34 N.E. 805 (1893), and Baird v. Hanna, 328 Ill. 436, 159 N.E. 793 (1927), and we agree that these cases provide the most relevant Illinois precedent. In Keating, the plaintiff-tenant needed strong light for his marble manufacturing and polishing business. The lease contained an express covenant for the unobstructed passage of light, and therefore the Illinois Supreme Court allowed evidence regarding the building by the landlord of a structure which would block light from the tenant's windows. However, the court based its holding on the express covenant, and went on to clarify its decision, stating that an implied easement for air and light is 11 inapplicable in a county like this, where the use, value, and ownership of land are constantly changing. Air and light are the common property of all.... The prevalent rule in the United States is that an easement in the unobstructed passage of light over an adjoining close cannot be acquired by prescription ... [and will not be implied] from the necessity of such easement to the convenient enjoyment of the property.... It follows that a landlord will not be liable for obstructing his tenant's windows by building on the adjoining close, in the absence of any covenant or agreement in the lease forbidding him to do so. 34 N.E. at 807. 4 12 In Baird, the owner of two lots sold them to two different people. One lot contained a building and photography business. The other lot's owner then leased the lot, and the lessee began constructing a building. The Illinois Supreme Court held that the buyer of the lot with the photography business could not get an injunction against the tenant of the other premises based on the need for light for his business, reaffirming that the law of implied grants and implied reservations shall not be applied to easements for light and air. 159 N.E. at 794. The court reasoned that 13 [t]he simplest rule, and that best suited to a country like the United States, in which changes are continually taking place in the ownership and in the use of lands, is that no easement of light can be acquired without express grant on an interest in, or covenant relating to, the lands over which the right is claimed. 14 Id. 15 Infinity's brief relies heavily upon Bloomington Lodge v. Roland, 217 Ill.App. 435 (3d Dist.1920), for the proposition that an easement for light and air, and thus by analogy an easement for radio waves, can be implied here. In that case, the owner of a building and lot leased the premises to a party who in turn sublet the third-floor. The sublessee then sublet to Bloomington Lodge. The original lessee then assigned the entire lease to Roland, who began to build an addition on the vacant lot adjacent to the building, which would block air and light from the third floor lodge. The court found that the lodge leased the third floor as it was then constructed, including the right to have light, and air through the windows at the rear of that floor. Id. at 440. It held that because the original lessee of the lot was burdened with that easement, that burden carried over to any assignment of the lot as well. 16 Bloomington Lodge does not require an implied easement in the present case. Bloomington Lodge primarily stands for the proposition that an assignee's rights are limited to those granted in the assigned lease, and that it therefore cannot change the premises in any way that would be detrimental to a tenant or subtenant. Prudential is the owner of the lot and not the assignee, so it is not relegated to the rights granted in an assignment, and not subject to any rights granted to a pre-existing subtenant. More significantly, even if Bloomington Lodge does suggest the validity of implied easements for light and air, that case was an appellate court decision handed down before the Illinois Supreme Court decided Baird, which clearly rejected implied easements for light and air. Finally, whatever the intent of the parties in Bloomington Lodge, we do not believe Prudential and Infinity could reasonably have expected the property surrounding Prudential Plaza to remain undeveloped. The parties' expectations and intentions are important when interpreting rights and obligations under a lease. 17 Infinity claims that the lease provision limiting its use of the premises exclusively to radio broadcasting implies an absolute prohibition on action by Prudential which would interfere with that use, and therefore that the parties did intend an implied right of passage for Infinity's radio signals. But we agree with the district court that this lease provision 18 merely acknowledges the use to which the tenant must put the leased premises, and no provision of the lease states that the tenant shall have an easement for the passage of radio waves over Prudential's adjoining property.... The ownership and development of Chicago skyline property is constantly changing. Plough and Infinity could not have reasonably expected at the time of the lease and assignment, respectively, that the extremely valuable land north of the Prudential Building would remain undeveloped forever, or during the twenty-year term of the lease and its extension. 19 We believe it is sound policy to put the obligation upon the prospective commercial tenant to ensure protection for the specific needs of his enterprise. Here it was Infinity's duty to bargain for any unique provisions effecting the transmission of radio waves, or to instead bargain for a reduced rent or liquidated damages clause. An easement for unobstructed radio waves is a lease term which should be negotiated into the lease; a court should not have to read in such a provision in hindsight. 20 Moreover, the district court was justifiably concerned with the consequences such an easement would have on land development. Prohibiting Prudential from interfering with Infinity's radio frequencies would greatly restrict Prudential's ability to construct the equivalent of Two Prudential Plaza anywhere in the city. Setting such a precedent would also inhibit free land development by any lessor having a radio or television company lessee. We conclude that Illinois law requires the parties to negotiate the terms of such restrictions on their own, and incorporate them into the lease. We therefore uphold the determinations of the district court that no easement for the unobstructed passage of radio waves can be implied here, and that Prudential did not breach the covenant of quiet enjoyment.