Newman v. Hinky Dinky Omaha-Lincoln, Inc. case brief

Newman v. Hinky Dinky Omaha-Lincoln, Inc. case brief summary
427 N.W.2d 50 (1988)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Defendant occupant and sublessee appealed a grant of summary judgment in favor of plaintiff lessor from the District Court for Lancaster County (Nebraska), raising the issue of whether, in the absence of an express lease provision permitting the withholding of consent, the lessor was required to have a commercially reasonable objection to the assignment or subletting when the lease allowed assignment or subletting only with the lessor's consent.

DISCUSSION

• In a forcible entry and detainer action, the court held that where a commercial lease did not expressly permit a lessor to withhold consent to an assignment or subletting and contained an approval clause, a lessor was permitted to withhold consent only when a lessor had a good faith and reasonable objection to assignment of the lease or subletting, even in the absence of a lease provision that consent would not be unreasonably withheld. 
• Because the lease at issue did not expressly permit or authorize the lessor to withhold consent, the provisions of the lease required the lessor to act in good faith and reasonably in withholding consent to an assignment or subletting. 
• Whether the lessor acted in good faith and reasonably in withholding consent to the assignment and sublease was a question of material fact and, thus, summary judgment was not appropriate.

CONCLUSION
The court reversed the judgment and remanded the cause.

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