Latest News [index] What a difference a day makes
The recent Supreme Court decision in the case of Ingram, Knee and Kip Investments Limited v Patcroft Properties Limited is a sage reminder of the importance of measuring twice and cutting once (to use a building term familiar to many).
This case involves a landlord who enters into a property and changes the locks after 13 days non-payment of rent. Perhaps surprisingly the tenant was ultimately successful in defending a claim for damages. The case is useful in an academic sense as it provides some serious consideration of the legal technicalities that surround cancellation and repudiation in the context of leases.
However, what the case highlights at a practical level is the importance of getting things right at the start. The critical point in this case being that the landlord had no right to re-enter unless rent had not been paid for 14 days. Because the landlord re-entered a day too soon, the tables were ultimately turned against the landlord. The reasoning in this regard is that had the tenant had the one extra day it was entitled to under the contract, perhaps the rent would have been paid.
Leases are a common feature of day to day business. Accordingly, it is extremely important that landlords and tenants get good advice regarding their rights and obligations and at what point these can or must be exercised.