MOB 90 of Texas, L.P. v. Nejemie Alter, M.D., P.A. and Nejemie Alter, M.D.

Summary

The Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals considered a landlord-tenant dispute concerning unpaid rent and the landlord's duty to mitigate damages after the tenant's default. The court held that the tenant failed to prove the amount of damages that could have been avoided through mitigation, even assuming the landlord's mitigation efforts were unreasonable. The court reversed the trial court's judgment and rendered judgment for the landlord in the amount of $93,220.57.

Holdings

1. A tenant asserting failure to mitigate must prove both that the landlord failed to use objectively reasonable efforts to relet the premises and the amount by which the landlord's damages could have been reduced. Proof of unreasonable mitigation efforts alone does not entitle the tenant to a reduction in damages.
2. Texas law does not require a landlord to work with a tenant who has breached the lease by offering less space or permitting the tenant to remain. A landlord need not accept any willing tenant, but only a suitable tenant under the circumstances.
3. The trial court erred in reducing MOB's damages by the full amount of rent accruing after January 2, 2007 because Alter offered no evidence of the amount of damages that could have been avoided through mitigation.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court erred in reducing MOB's recovery for failure to mitigate when Alter did not prove the amount by which MOB's damages could have been reduced.
2. Whether a landlord's duty to mitigate requires the landlord to work with the breaching tenant by offering less space or allowing the tenant to remain in the premises.
3. Whether the evidence was legally and factually sufficient to support the trial court's implied findings concerning mitigation of damages.

Disposition

reversed