Brown v. Green
Supreme Court of California
884 P.2d 55 (1994)
Green (defendant) signed a 15-year commercial lease from Brown (plaintiff) to run a retail furniture store, agreeing to comply with all applicable laws and make all repairs, structural or not, despite declining a recommended pre-lease safety inspection. Two years later, a health inspection found dangerous asbestos flaking from roof beams; Green sealed off the area, kept operating in another part of the building, and stopped paying rent rather than fund the abatement. Brown sued for unpaid rent and abatement costs.
Whether a court may look beyond unqualified lease language assigning a tenant broad repair and legal-compliance obligations to determine whether the parties actually intended the tenant to bear that specific burden.