Real Estate Law

(Modified upon denial of rehearing 2/4/19.) Landlord sued tenant for breach of commercial leases, alleging that tenant breached a covenant to restore premises to their original configuration at end of lease terms and that such failure was also a holdover under the lease. Jury found in landlord's favor on 2 counts, but court later granted tenant JNOV on holdover claim. Sufficient evidence for jury to conclude that tenant held possession constructively, as tenant exercised control over premises after leases expired. Issue of possession is a factual one for jury to decide, and JNOV was improper. Court's conditional ruling, that tenant is entitled to new trial on holdover claim based on improper jury instruction, is reversed, and verdict is reinstated. Remanded for proceedings on issue of landlord's attorney fees, as court erred in considering only proportionality and should have considered 8 factors as set forth in 2001 Esker v. Cle-Pas's appellate court decision. Court properly denied prejudgment interest, as that was controlled by terms of lease. (McLAREN and HUTCHINSON, concurring.)

Plaintiff filed mortgage foreclosure action. Court granted Plaintiff's motion for default judgment, and entered judgment of foreclosure and sale. Court then granted Defendants' motion to vacate default judgment, and Defendants filed answer that same day.  Court later granted Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment and entered judgment of foreclosure and sale. Defendants failed to obtain a stay of judgment within time for filing notice of appeal. Third-party purchaser of property at sale was not a party to the foreclosure litigation, but was a "mere purchaser of the property" and thus at time of judgment and sale it was a nonparty. Thus, appeal dismissed as moot under Rule 305(k). (McBRIDE and GORDON, concurring.)

(Modified upon denial of rehearing 1/7/19.) Court granted equitable redemption in a tax deed sale proceeding to the property's owners. Although a 1990 amendment to section 22-45 of Property Tax Code restricted equitable relief as to vacating a tax deed, in order to preserve and uphold the policy goals of tax deed merchantability and equity to taxpayers, section 22-45, as amended, does not preclude courts' equitable powers as to redemption prior to issuance of a tax deed. Court properly favored redemption and sought to give liberal construction to redemption laws.(CHAPMAN and CATES, concurring.)

Amendment to condominium declaration--that removed the requirement that parties submit disputes to mediation and then, if not settled, to arbitration--is not retroactive, but affected only future disputes. Thus, preamended version of the declaration governs cause of action which arose prior to effective date of amendment.(McBRIDE and REYES, concurring.)