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Has The Property Owner Waived a Lease Clause?

My friend bought a coffee bar in a strip mall two years ago. The coffee bar has been around for 15 years.

In addition to selling coffee drinks the bar has a cooler with milk drinks, juice boxes and energy drinks. These items are usually purchased by parents for their kids when the parents come in for coffee.

Three months ago a small grocery store opened in the strip mall. It also sells milk, juice boxes and energy drinks.

The property owner informed my friend in writing he has to stop selling the products in the cooler because they are not coffee related items. This is in his lease.

The hitch here is for 15 years under all ownership the property owner was aware of the cooler and the items for sale. This was never a problem until the grocery opened.

Has the property owner granted waiver by ignoring the sales of the cooler items in the past?

11 Answers

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  • 4 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Nobody says he has to inform him right away to stop selling those items. In fact, the landlord probably felt that it was not worth arguing or fighting about so he just ignored the lease violation. However, it has now become a problem. Figure - a complaint was lodged by the grocer - justified by the way. So, stop selling those items. You are a coffee shop. Likely, your business is described on your lease as a "coffee shop". Further, your probably incorporated as a "coffee shop", right? Coffee and related items, right? Either do as you were told - remove those items or expect to be evicted. In direct answer to your question - NO, he did not waive the lease clause. You specifically said that "This is in his lease" - that you can sell coffee and related products, nothing else.

    Source(s): Certified Paralegal, with 25+ years' experience & with Landlord & Tenant law experience.
  • 4 years ago

    No, the owner has not waived the clause, he just chose not to enforce it, but is free to enforce it at any time. Thus you must comply. Sorry.

    You might want to keep the cooler and rethink the definition of coffee related products that might serve the same purpose of you preset inventory. For example now a days coffee bars make all sorts of things that taste nothing like coffee and since milk is involved in most drinks, you could offer flavored milk products and teas in small containers at a high profit margins with draw being the cool container the child will prefer.

  • ?
    Lv 7
    4 years ago

    The owner/landlord has the right to enforce the provisions in the written lease, even if they have previously chosen not to enforce those provisions.

    To say it another way - the clause in the lease is not nullified or waived just because it wasn't previously enforced.

  • Anonymous
    4 years ago

    "Has the property owner granted waiver by ignoring the sales of the cooler items in the past?"

    You mean a permanent, forward-looking waiver? No. The landlord has a right to enforce the contract and there is no provision in the contract that addresses or grants a waiver.

    There's a pie shop on the block where I work and when Starbucks moved in six months ago, the pie shop had to stop selling espresso. They are still allowed to sell regular drip coffee and those smart kids always offer to steam the milk. If your friend thinks outside the box they may find an alternate solution.

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  • 4 years ago

    No, he has not waived anything. That he chose to not enforce that clause until a different store arrived means nothing. Your friend got away with it for two years. That time is now history.

  • 4 years ago

    There is a competition clause in the contract that prevents two stores in the same strip mall from selling the same products. Your buddy needs to read his lease.

    These are pretty common for strip malls and, more than likely, this is all correct.

  • tro
    Lv 7
    4 years ago

    if the limit is not in the lease and this practice has been going on for 15 yrs the landlord cannot force him to stop selling those items, the mere fact of the time this has been allowed to operate creates a foundation for the practice

    the landlord is having to appease the new grocer tenant and he can't legally do it

  • Judy
    Lv 7
    4 years ago

    No the property owner hasn't granted him a waiver of the lease terms. It juts never mattered before, so he never enfoced it.

  • 4 years ago

    If you have proof that the landlord USED the additional services and product, and thus "approved" of them, you may have a valid case of waiver, even if the contract has a specific "non-waiver" clause. Actions sometimes speak louder than words. Your attorneys can advise you on local case on point.

    Source(s): NY law: www.rosenbergestis.com/In-the-News/081011502Rosenberg.pdf
  • 4 years ago

    It was not in competition until the grocery store moved in and complained.

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