Opinion ID: 786739
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Termination of the Lease — Rents and Roof Repair

Text: 16 Plaintiffs' final colorable issues involve the question of whether Wal-Mart's termination of the lease constituted a breach and, relatedly, whether Wal-Mart was obligated to return the building with a repaired roof. Since the third amended lease was valid and enforceable, we begin our inquiry there. 17 The third amended lease put the responsibility for roof maintenance on the lessor. The facts show that the roof had been leaking from as early as 1990 and continuing through 1997. Notice of the leaks was provided to the lessor over twenty-five times. In one instance, the fire department was dispatched to the store because the leaks had caused electrical short circuits. The leaks were not repaired and Wal-Mart terminated the lease by letter on May 5, 1997. The lease states, [i]n the event of ... the breach of any of the other agreements contained in Lease, this Lease shall terminate and be of no further effect at the discretion of the Lessee. The third amended lease put the duty of roof maintenance on the lessor. Wal-Mart was well within its contractual rights in terminating the lease for lessor's failure to maintain the roof. 18 As for the condition of the roof, there is no dispute that the building was almost totally destroyed by a tornado in 1982. Castellano was aware of this fact. The then-current lessor refused to repair the building and Wal-Mart completed the repairs under the emergency provision of the lease. These repairs benefited the lessor as the lessee had no duty whatsoever to make those repairs. Both the original and the third amended lease make clear that the condition of the roof was solely the responsibility of the lessor. Plaintiffs attempt to put the duty to repair the roof on to Wal-Mart by pointing to a provision of the original lease which says [e]xcept for the obligations of Lessor under paragraphs 8 and 9 of this lease, Lessee agrees, to maintain the interior of the demised premises and shall repair any damage caused by any act of, or by negligence of, the Lessee, its contractors, Licensees, agents, or Employees. They argue that this provision makes Wal-Mart responsible for the condition of the roof because Wal-Mart hired the contractors to do the repairs after the 1982 tornado. 19 Paragraph 9 of the original lease puts the duty to maintain the roof on the lessor. It was due to the lessor's inaction that Wal-Mart made the roof repairs. As the repairs were the duty of the lessor, any repairs made by Wal-Mart under the emergency provision of the lease were done for the benefit of the lessor. The language of the original lease bears this out. It expressly excepts the obligations of the lessor from those duties assigned to the lessee; [e]xcept for the obligations of Lessor under paragraphs 8 and 9 of this lease.... 20 Finally, Plaintiffs attempt to argue that Wal-Mart committed fraud by installing a roofing system which did not match the original construction and/or concealing facts regarding the nature of the repairs. The district court dismissed these claims as being untimely. Plaintiffs did not address the issue of timeliness in their brief to this court. Without argument otherwise, we find no error in the district court's decision. AFFIRMED