Reference no: EM133653820

Question

Owner owned a shopping mall consisting of five stores. Because of a bad economy, three of the five stores were vacant. The shopping mall began to look rundown because of the disuse, and fewer customers came to shop. The two other tenants in the shopping mall told Owner that if business did not pick up, they would not renew their leases. Shopkeeper was looking to p. 222lease a store for its business and approached Owner. Owner agreed to let Shopkeeper rent the store for one year for free. Shopkeeper and Owner signed a standard one-year written lease agreement. The agreement stated that: (1) Owner promises to let Shopkeeper occupy and use the store for one year; (2) Owner promises to indemnify Shopkeeper from any loss sustained by Shopkeeper or his customers on the premises; (3) Shopkeeper agrees to occupy the store at a rent of $0 per month. Shopkeeper started occupying Owner's store. Because Owner had agreed to indemnify Shopkeeper, Shopkeeper did not get insurance to cover injuries that might be sustained in the store. Immediately after Shopkeeper moved in, business for the entire shopping mall improved. The other two tenants told Owner that they were more likely to renew.