For subscribers
Shophouse tenants left $400,000 poorer after ending lease unilaterally
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The tenants who sued the landlord ended up being the losers as they were wrong to end lease prematurely.
PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO
You would think it would be safe for a tenant to terminate the lease on a building he later finds has a serious legal issue. But one business found that its decision to do so was a $400,000 misjudgment.
At first glance, it looked like an open and shut case, until the tenants hit an unexpected legal brick wall: A tenant does not have an automatic right to stop paying rent and move out even if the landlord has run afoul of the law.
