Plaintiff lessors sought review of the order from the Superior Court of Kern County (California), which, in plaintiffs’ action for breach of lease and for an accounting, entered judgment in favor of defendant | on its counterclaim for damages.
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Overview
The lessor leased parcels of its property under a developmental lease which was subsequently assigned to the lessee. The lessor brought suit, seeking damages from the lessee for breach of lease and for an accounting, and the lessee counterclaimed for damages for the violation of the lease. The trial court entered judgment for the lessee, awarding damages on the counterclaim. On appeal, the court held that while the evidence was conflicting as to whether or not the reservoir constituted an improvement, the resolution of that conflict was for the trier of fact who considered the facility for the storage of water in that vicinity an improvement under the terms of the development lease. The court held that it could not have said as a matter of law that there was no evidence that the lessee used good and farmer-like methods. The court held that there was substantial evidence that the lessee had performed the terms of the lease and that there was ample support in the record for the trial court’s determination of the damages suffered by the lessee.
Outcome
The court affirmed the order from the trial court.