Roy v. George W. Greene, Inc.

Since 1971, the plaintiff has been a tenant under an oral agreement and has operated an automobile repair shop on premises owned by the defendant George W. Greene, Inc. (Greene). At the outset of the tenancy and on subsequent occasions, Greene’s principals represented to the plaintiff that, if the property were to be sold, the plaintiff would have “a right of first refusal.” In reliance on that repeated representation, the plaintiff substantially improved the property during the course of the tenancy. On several occasions during the tenancy, Greene offered to sell the premises to the…