Commercial Resource Group, LLC v. The J.M. Smucker Co.
United States Court of Appeal, Eighth Circuit
753 F.3d 790 (2014)
Smucker (defendant) leased a building from CRG (plaintiff) under a lease that auto-renewed annually unless Smucker gave timely notice of termination before each January 1 renewal date. After CRG updated its notice address, Smucker mistakenly sent its termination notice to CRG's old address on December 22, which FedEx reported as undeliverable; Smucker then resent the notice to the correct address, which CRG received on January 5 — four days after the deadline. The district court found time wasn't of the essence, that Smucker had substantially performed, and that CRG wasn't prejudiced, ruling the lease was effectively canceled; CRG appealed.
Whether, if timely performance is an essential element of a contract, even a minor performance delay will materially breach the contract.