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B&P v. Overland
State: Maryland
Court: Court of Appeals
Docket No: 1446/99
Case Date: 09/05/2000
Preview:REPORTED

IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 1446 SEPTEMBER TERM, 1999 _________________________________ __

B & P ENTERPRISES

v.

OVERLAND EQUIPMENT COMPANY

_________________________________ __

Moylan, Hollander, McAuliffe, John F. (Retired, Specially assigned) JJ. _________________________________ __

Opinion by Hollander, J. _________________________________

__

Filed: September 5, 2000

This case requires us to consider a number of issues arising from a commercial leasehold agreement. Overland Equipment

Company ("Overland" or

"Tenant"), appellee, operates a motor

vehicle towing and storage business on premises leased from B & P Enterprises ("B&P" or "Landlord"), appellant.1 On appeal, B&P

challenges the judgment for damages and order for injunctive relief entered in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County in favor of Overland, the plaintiff below, following a two-day bench trial. B&P presents the following issues for our review,

which we have rephrased for clarity: I. Did the court err in awarding relief to appellee in light of appellee's failure to give appellant written notice of default and an opportunity to cure as required by the lease? Was the evidence sufficient to support the award of damages to appellee with respect to the relocation of vehicles, and, if so, did the court use the appropriate measure of damages?

II.

B&P's status as a business entity is somewhat unclear. The record suggests that B&P is either a partnership or a limited corporation. The issue has no bearing on this appeal. -1-

1

III.

Did the court attorney's fees?

err

in

awarding

appellee

IV.

Did the court err in granting injunctive relief? A. Did the court err by issuing injunctions prior to appellee's satisfaction of the notice provisions set forth in the lease? Were the terms of injunctive supported by the evidence? relief

B.

C.

Is the injunctive relief awarded of such a character that effective enforcement is unreasonably difficult, requiring long-term judicial supervision?

For the reasons that follow, we shall affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand for further proceedings.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND On August 1, 1996, B&P and Overland entered into a five-year written lease agreement (the "Lease") by which appellant leased the premises located at 11732 to 11736 Annapolis Road in Glenn Dale, Maryland (the "Property") to appellee. printed form containing including blanks the into of which the The Lease is a information parties and was a

typewritten,

names

description of the Property.

In addition to the above stated

street addresses, the Lease included the following description of the Property: The entire second floor of the existing [commercial] -2-

building, as well as the "fenced-in" area to the left of the building, along with an additional storage lot to on the rear of the property consisting of approx. 10,000+- square feet. (Exact location of the additional 10,000+- square feet to be determined) The second floor of the office building was used to house Overland's corporate offices. The "`fenced-in' area to the left

of the building," which we will refer to as the "Old Lot," was used to store vehicles. The last paragraph of the preprinted

form is numbered "15.27," but a second "15.27" was typed in below it.2 The typewritten paragraph states:

Landlord reserves the right to relocate Tenant's "fenced-in" storage lot at some future date, should that become necessary, at Landlord's expense. At trial, James Mills, Overland's president, described the Old Lot as a large, rectangular property covered with crushed stone, illuminated by three halogen lights, which abuts an

asphalt parking lot located in front of the commercial building. According to Mills, the gate to the Old Lot opened onto the parking lot, and Overland's drivers had "easy access" to the asphalt parking lot. He explained: "[Y]ou could come in off of

the highway, and pull upon the asphalt and back straight into the [Old Lot]. There was [sic] no grades, no hills, no nothing At the relevant time, the Old Lot had

[sic] was in the way."

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