Albert M. Greenfield & Co. v. Kolea
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
380 A.2d 758 (1977)
Greenfield (plaintiff) leased Kolea (defendant) two adjacent lots, one with a building, for Kolea's used-car repair and sales business, with no lease provision addressing what happens if the building were destroyed. An accidental fire destroyed the building mid-lease, and the city required a barrier around both lots; Kolea then stopped paying rent on either lot, and the trial court awarded Greenfield $7,200 under the traditional common-law rule that rent obligations survive a building's destruction.
Whether either party continues to have an obligation under a lease when a building whose use was central to the lease is destroyed through no fault of either party and the lease is silent on risk of loss.