Rizika v. Donovan

On the ground that the contract between the parties lacked an essential term, a judge of the Superior Court, acting on a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict,3 set aside a $4,844,912 jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff Rizika. The missing piece, the judge thought, was that Rizika, at the time he contracted with the defendants, did not own the real property he *160had agreed to lease to the defendants. We conclude that a party may bind itself to lease property that it does not own, taking the risk of liability for damages to the tenant should it not acquire ownership of the leased…