Opinion ID: 877417
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: trial court award of $5,000 to tenant as compensation for repairs

Text: The trial court ordered the landlords to pay a sum of $5,000 to compensate the tenant for repairs that he made to restore the premises after the fire. The trial court arrived at this figure in a mysterious way. The trial court listed items which were installed by the tenant and which were of benefit both to the tenant and the landlords. The court valued these items at $10,000, and then determined that the parties should share equally the cost of these items. But no basis exists in the record for the trial court's valuation of the items at $10,000, or for the determination that this cost should be shared equally by the parties. We reverse this part of the court's judgment and remand for further findings as to the exact value of the repairs for which the tenant may recover. Absent an agreement to the contrary, the common law rule is that the lessor has no duty to repair. Solich, supra. Here there is an agreement to repair contained in the lease agreement, and when the landlords elected to repair and restore the premises, they became bound by this agreement to make the repairs necessary to restore the premises to a tenantable condition. The landlords failed to do this, and the tenant was compelled to complete the work. Under the agreement, the landlords are liable for the costs incurred by the tenant in completing the repairs that were the landlords' duty to provide.