James & Son, Inc. v. Breedlove

FAULKNER, Justice.

This is an appeal from an order holding that a lessee was not entitled to recover from a lessor for damages caused by a roof collapse under a latent defect theory. We affirm.

On July 23, 1969, James & Son, Inc. (lessee) leased a commercial building from J. G. Breedlove and Joseph M. Breedlove (lessor) for five years. The lease contained no clause exempting lessor from liability for injury to lessee’s property due to defects in the premises but did place a duty on lessor to restore the premises if damaged by storm, fire or other casualty and a duty on lessee to keep the…