JNM Hospitality, Inc. v. McDaid, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-136-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 14-P-1946 Appeals Court JNM HOSPITALITY, INC. vs. EDWIN McDAID & others,[1] trustees.[2] No. 14-P-1946. Norfolk. January 19, 2016. – September 27, 2016. Present: Grainger, Rubin, & Milkey, JJ. Condominiums, Parking, Common area. Real Property, Condominium, Lease. Landlord and Tenant, Execution of lease, Parking. Contract, Lease of real estate, Performance and breach, Interference with contractual relations. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on January 19, 2012. A motion for summary judgment was heard by Paul D. Wilson, J., and entry of separate and final judgment was ordered by him. William E. Gens for the plaintiff. Henry A. Goodman for the defendants. GRAINGER, J. This is an appeal from the dismissal of a claim brought by the commercial tenant of a condominium unit owner against the condominium trustees. The plaintiff, JNM Hospitality, Inc. (JNM), appeals from the summary judgment in favor of the defendant trustees of The Village at Forge Pond Condominium Trust (collectively the trust) ordered by a judge of the Superior Court. JNM asserts that the trust’s execution of a license agreement allowing employees of an abutting United States Postal Service (USPS) facility to use spaces in the vehicle parking lot of the condominium where JNM’s restaurant was located constituted intentional interference in JNM’s contract with its landlord. We disagree, and affirm the judgment.[3] Background. For purposes of our consideration of the allowance of summary judgment, the facts are not in dispute. JNM operated a restaurant and bar on premises leased from Canton Viaduct, LLC, as assignee of the owner of two commercial units in The Village at Forge Pond Condominium, a mixed-use condominium complex in Canton. The trust is the condominium’s governing entity. See G. L. c. 183A, §§ 8(i), 10. At issue are the provisions of JNM’s lease governing the ability to provide vehicle parking spaces to its customers. The lease provisions relating to the number and location of parking spaces are both unclear and, due to handwritten revisions,[4] difficult to decipher. The parties dedicate significant energy and many strained arguments to the meaning of lease provisions relating to this issue, with particular emphasis on so-called nonexclusive parking, i.e., spaces not reserved for any particular person or entity. For purposes of reviewing factual allegations in the motion for summary judgment we adopt, as […]