Legal Blog

Mitigation: Court confirms that there is no duty to mitigate if a landlord chooses to keep the lease alive

7Marli Ltd. v. Valu Canada Inc. 2017 Ont SCJ

The tenant moved out of the premises and withheld rent to put pressure on the landlord to settle with it. Rather than terminating the tenancy, the landlord merely sued for rent and then brought a motion for summary judgment for the arrears. The tenant argued that the landlord had a duty to mitigate its damages by re-renting the premises. The court held that, as long as the landlord did not terminate the tenancy, the landlord had no duty to mitigate its losses and could sue for rent as the rent came due.

Written by Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.