Opinion ID: 1407850
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Lease Requires Landlords' Damages to be Measured by Future Rent.

Text: Section 18.3 of the lease provides that damages upon Tenants's breach are equal to the total rent under the lease, less income from subsequent reletting: Should Landlord at any time terminate this Lease for any breach in addition to any other remedies it may have, it may recover from Tenant all damages it may incur by reason of such breach, including the cost of recovering the Premises, reasonable attorneys' fees and the amount of rent and charges equivalent to Rent reserved in this Lease for the remainder of the stated term, all of which amounts shall be immediately due and payable from Tenant to Landlord, and Landlord shall thereafter pay to Tenant, at such time or times as Landlord shall be in receipt of the same, the Rent for the Premises for the remainder of the stated term collected from tenants thereafter using the premises, up to the amount of the Rent reserved which has theretofore been collected from Tenant, less costs of reletting. (Emphases added.) [7] Leases are essentially contractual in nature and are reviewed under principles of contract law. Cho Mark Oriental Food v. K & K Int'l, 73 Haw. 509, 519, 836 P.2d 1057, 1063 (1992); Maui Land & Pineapple Co. v. Dillingham Corp., 67 Haw. 4, 10, 674 P.2d 390, 394 (1984) (leases should be analyzed under principles of contract law); Lau v. Bautista, 61 Haw. 144, 149, 598 P.2d 161 Haw. P.2d 161, 165 (1975) (a lease is essentially a contractual relationship); Lemle v. Breeden, 51 Haw. 426, 433, 462 P.2d 470, 475 (1969) (a lease is more importantly[] a contractual relationship). Absent an ambiguity, contract terms should be interpreted according to their plain, ordinary, and accepted sense in common speech. Cho Mark, 73 Haw. at 520, 836 P.2d at 1064. Moreover, the construction and the legal effect to be given a contract is a question of law freely reviewable by an appellate court. Id. at 519, 836 P.2d at 1063. In this case, the lease provides that damages include charges equivalent to Rent reserved in th[e] Lease for the remainder of the stated term.... Thus, the plain language of the lease calculates damages by lost rents up to the end of the lease term, less mitigation. [8]