Shields Limited Partnership v. Boo Nathaniel Bradberry and 40/40 Enterprises

518 S.W.3d 49
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 25, 2015
Docket05-14-00258-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 518 S.W.3d 49 (Shields Limited Partnership v. Boo Nathaniel Bradberry and 40/40 Enterprises) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shields Limited Partnership v. Boo Nathaniel Bradberry and 40/40 Enterprises, 518 S.W.3d 49 (Tex. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Opinion by

Justice Myers

This case involves the right to possession of the property containing the San Francisco Rose restaurant in Dallas, Texas. Shields Limited Partnership (“Shields”) appeals the trial court’s judgment awarding possession of the premises to Boo Nathaniel Bradberry and 40/40 Enterprises, Inc. in this suit for forcible de-tainer. Shields brings one issue on appeal contending the trial court erred by awarding possession of the property to appellees. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

BACKGROUND

In 1997, Bernard E. Shields owned the property containing the San Francisco Rose restaurant in Dallas, Texas. On March 19, Bernard Shields leased it to Mohsen Heidari for a ten-year term from June 1, 1997 to May 31, 2007. The lease provided that the tenant had the option to extend the term for an additional five-year period at the rate of $3,000 per month if the tenant had “fulfilled all of the terms and conditions of the initial lease period.” To exercise the option, the tenant was to notify the landlord’s agent at least ninety days before the expiration of the initial lease term. The lease provided for holdover rent after the expiration of the lease’s term of $3,000 per month. The lease required all rent to be paid on or before the first day of the month and delivered to landlord’s agent, Robert Lindsley, a real estate broker. The lease provided there was an event of default if the rent was not paid by the tenth day of the month. If the rent was paid late, the lease permitted the landlord to impose a late charge.

At some point after the execution of the lease, Bernard Shields transferred the property to Shields Limited Partnership. In late 2004 or early 2005, Tom Shields, Bernard Shields’s son, took over as general manager of the Shields partnership.

On June 1, 2005, Heidari subleased the property to Bradberry, and Bradberry sub-subleased the property to his company, 40/40 Enterprises, Inc. Lindsley, as agent for Shields, signed the sublease consenting to the sublease. The sublease provided that it was subordinate to the lease and subject to all the terms and conditions of the lease. In the sublease, Bradberry assumed all the obligations of the tenant under the lease. The sublease stated its termination date was the same as the termination date of the lease. The sublease also provided that if the terms of the lease were fulfilled, then Bradberry would sign a new lease with Shields and would become the tenant (as opposed to subtenant) effective June 1, 2007.

The controversy in this case largely concerns an alleged amendment to the lease in April 2005, entered into while Bradberry was negotiating for the sublease. That provision stated that if “Subtenant,” i.e., Bradberry, had fulfilled all of the terms and conditions of the lease, he would “have the option as Tenant to extend the lease for an additional 5 years from June 1, 2012 through May 3, 2017,” with the changes that (1) the rent would be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and (2) that Bradberry would have to pay the pro rata share of the property taxes “when billed by Principal Realtor or Landlord.” The amend *52 ment required Bradberry to exercise the option at least ninety days before the lease ended on May 31, 2012. The amendment also contained provisions for extending the lease from 2017 to 2022 and from 2022 to 2027. The amendment was signed by Hei-dari, Bradberry, and Lindsley. A space for Tom Shields to sign as “Landlord” was not signed.

On February 22, 2007, Lindsley sent Heidari a letter reminding Heidari of his right to extend the lease through May 31, 2012. Heidari timely signed a statement at the bottom of the letter stating, “I want to exercise my option as outlined above.” On September 23, 2011, which was more than ninety days before May 31, 2012, Bradberry sent Lindsley a letter, stating, “As you know, per our conversations, we will be exercising our option to stay at the Rose....”

Bradberry testified that through 2011, he dealt only with Lindsley on behalf of the landlord, Shields, and that he never even met Tom Shields until 2012. All of Bradberry’s rent checks through the end of 2011 were made payable to Lindsley’s company. In January 2012, a new company, Lagniappe LLG and Scott Covington, took over management of the property from Lindsley’s company. Bradberry was directed to make the rent checks payable to Shields beginning January 2012. Linds-ley died in July 2012.

Although the lease stated that all rent payments were due on the first of the month, Bradberry testified that Lindsley told him to pay the rent by the twentieth day of each month with a five-day grace period. However, Bradberry’s rent payments were occasionally made after the twenty-fifth day of the month. The rent for May 2012 was not paid until June 13, 2012, and the November 2012 rent was paid on December 4, 2012. When the December 2012 rent was not paid by December 18, Tom Shields sent Bradberry a letter of default via e-mail telling Bradber-ry that if the rent was not paid within five days, further action would be taken. Shields also assessed late fees of $500 each for November and December 2012.

The same day as the letter of default, Bradberry responded with an e-mail to Tom Shields stating the check was in the mail and would be delivered the next day. Also on December 18, 2012, Bradberry sent Tom Shields a letter stating that on May 31, 2012, he began the first of three five-year extensions of the lease. In the letter, Bradberry described that having the lease extensions through 2027 was a significant reason for his purchase of the restaurant because of the extensive restoration and renovations necessary for the property. Bradberry also stated the extensions were necessary for the restaurant to obtain its liquor license. Bradberry stated in the letter that he had spent over $250,000 on the building, and that he would not have spent that money if he did not think he could own the business for many years.

On October 16, 2013, Covington sent Bradberry a proposed new lease, which increased the rent from $3,000 per month to $9,700.83 per month. Bradberry rejected the proposed lease.

On October 30, 2013, Shields’s lawyer sent Bradberry notice of termination of the lease. The notice stated that the lease had expired on May 31, 2012, and that the landlord had permitted Bradberry to occupy the premises since then on a month-to-month basis. The letter also stated that if the 2005 amendment to the lease was valid, then Bradberry had failed to pay any increased rent and his share of the property taxes, which constituted a default under the lease. The notice of termination required Bradberry to vacate the premises by December 1,2013.

*53 When Bradberry did not vacate the property, Shields filed suit for eviction in the justice court. The justice court ruled for Bradberry, and Shields appealed to the county court at law. After a trial before the court, the trial court awarded possession of the premises to Bradberry and 40/40 and awarded them attorney’s fees.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

This case was tried before the court. The parties did not request findings of fact and conclusions of law, and the trial court did not make findings of fact and conclusions of law.

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518 S.W.3d 49, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shields-limited-partnership-v-boo-nathaniel-bradberry-and-4040-texapp-2015.