Opinion ID: 1826758
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: action for breach of a lessee's covenant to repair

Text: Earl refers to paragraph 31 of his lease: The Lessee shall have full and complete responsibility for maintenance, replacement and repair of all buildings and other improvements contained within the property including ... all parking areas.... In the event of failure of Lessee to so maintain, replace or repair any such items, the Lessor may cause such work to be done and the cost thereof with interest at sixteen percent (16%) shall be additional rental due and payable forthwith hereunder. Earl then focuses on the second sentence in paragraph 31 and argues that this provision requires that Miller must actually complete repairs to the parking lot before Miller can sue for damages from the breach of the covenant to repair. In other words, actual repairs are a condition precedent to accrual of a lessor's cause of action for breach of a covenant to repair leased premises. Traditionally and generally in Nebraska, a cause of action accrues when an injury occurs and the aggrieved party, therefore, has a right to institute and maintain a suit for redress. Rosnick v. Marks, 218 Neb. 499, 357 N.W.2d 186 (1984); Interholzinger v. Estate of Dent, 214 Neb. 264, 333 N.W.2d 895 (1983); Grand Island School Dist. #2 v. Celotex Corp., 203 Neb. 559, 279 N.W.2d 603 (1979). Consequently, a cause of action for breach of contract accrues as soon as the breach occurs. See id. Paragraph 31 of the Miller-Earl lease contains two distinct and unambiguous provisions pertaining to repair of the premises. First, Earl must maintain and repair the leased premises. Second, on Earl's failure to maintain and repair the premises, Miller may enter the premises, cause necessary repair work to be done, and charge the cost of repairs as additional rent. Thus, the first provision of paragraph 31, as a covenant to repair, imposes on Earl the affirmative duty to maintain and repair the premises. See Gehrke v. General Theatre Corp., 207 Neb. 301, 298 N.W.2d 773 (1980) (a covenant to repair imposes on a lessee the affirmative obligation to make necessary repairs). Considering a breach of covenant to repair, the court stated in Middendorf v. Fuqua Industries, Inc., 623 F.2d 13, 18 (6th Cir.1980): [A] covenant to keep the premises in repair is breached at any time during the term that reasonably necessary repairs are not made by the lessee, and the lessor may bring an action for this breach forthwith rather than waiting until the end of the term. See, also, Corbett v. Derman Shoe Co., 338 Mass. 405, 155 N.E.2d 423 (1959) (a lessor is entitled to maintain an action for breach of a covenant to repair as soon as the lessee fails to repair the premises); Avelez Hotel Corp. v. Milner Hotels, 227 Miss. 808, 87 So.2d 63 (1956) (during a lease's term, a lessor's cause of action accrues when the lessee breaches a covenant to repair the premises; therefore, the lessor need not wait until the end of the lease's term before commencement of an action); McKinney v. White Sewing Machine Corp., 32 Ohio Op.2d 306, 200 N.E.2d 596 (1964) (a lessor has a cause of action for breach of a covenant to repair which occurs during the leasehold term). Hence, a cause of action based on breach of a covenant to repair in a lease accrues when the party obligated to repair anticipatorily repudiates the covenant; fails to undertake the repairs within a reasonable time; or, after undertaking to repair, abandons the repairs before completion. See, Hilliard & Bartko v. Fedco Systems, 309 Md. 147, 522 A.2d 961 (1987); Antigua Condominium v. Melba Investors, 307 Md. 700, 517 A.2d 75 (1986). We hold, therefore, that when a lessee during the term of a lease breaches a covenant to repair the leased premises, the lessor may bring an action as soon as the breach occurs. The second provision of paragraph 31 in the Miller-Earl lease provides that rather than bringing an action for breach of the covenant to repair, Miller had the option to enter and repair the premises and then charge Earl with the cost of repairs as additional rent. Consequently, under the provisions of the lease, at any time during the term of the lease Miller could bring an action for Earl's breach of the covenant to repair the premises or cause repairs to be made and charge Earl with additional rent based on the cost of the repairs made.