Medico-Dental Building Company of Los Angeles v. Horton and Converse

Horton and Converse (defendant) operated a drugstore, dependent on patronage from the building's medical-practitioner tenants, under a lease from Medico-Dental Building Company (plaintiff) that included a restrictive covenant barring the landlord from leasing to any other drug-selling tenant, with the covenant and rent obligation set out together in a rider making all lease terms conditional. Medico nonetheless leased space to a doctor whose office included a competing pharmacy, made no immediate effort to stop it, and told Horton no resolution with the new tenant was possible; Horton then stopped paying rent, and Medico sued for the unpaid rent, with the trial court finding Medico had materially breached and Horton had reasonably deferred vacating to give Medico time to fix the problem.