The condition of not subletting or assigning a commercial lease cannot simply depend on the landlord's will.
Many commercial leases prohibit tenants from subletting or assigning their rights in a lease without the written consent of the landlord. Some leases state that the landlord cannot refuse this consent without reasonable grounds, while others remain silent on the matter.
For example, a farmer leases agricultural land for five years. The commercial lease prohibits the tenant from subletting or assigning the lease without obtaining the landlord's written permission beforehand. The tenant, unable to continue farming the land, sells their machinery and sublets the land without the landlord's consent, for a rent six times higher than the original lease. The landlord brings the matter to the Superior Court and requests the termination of the lease. The court grants the request and terminates the lease.
The tenant, feeling aggrieved, appeals to the Court of Appeal* which overturns the decision and rules in their favor. Although the landlord's written consent was not obtained beforehand, the Court concludes that the condition of not subletting or assigning the lease, as drafted, cannot simply depend on the landlord's will. The landlord was required to provide reasonable grounds, especially since they did not offer any serious reasons to justify their refusal to sublet and did not invoke any reproachable reasons against the subtenant.
Could we imagine for a moment that the courts could confirm or endorse unreasonable and unjustifiable acts that would have harmful consequences for others? Some people are not masters of their own homes, not because they are servants to it, but rather because they abuse a situation, which the courts remind them of.
* C.A. 500-09-009082-991, 2000-06-19
