Foundation Development Corp. v. Loehmann's, Inc.
Supreme Court of Arizona
788 P.2d 1189 (1990)
Loehmann's (defendant) leased commercial space from Foundation Development's (plaintiff) predecessor under a lease with a time-of-the-essence clause allowing termination if a breach wasn't cured within ten days of notice. After a dispute over common-area maintenance charges, Foundation demanded payment within ten days; Loehmann's mailed payment that arrived 19 days after the demand letter's date and 12 days after Loehmann's received it. On the eleventh day after receipt, Foundation sued to terminate the lease and evict Loehmann's. The trial court found the late payment a trivial breach and ruled for Loehmann's, but the court of appeals reversed, holding that missing the time-of-the-essence deadline was itself a material breach justifying termination regardless of triviality.
Whether, under Arizona law, a lease provision allowing a landlord to terminate upon breach of a lease condition entitles the landlord to terminate for a breach that is merely trivial.