Prairie Land Holdings, L. L.C. v. F.A.A.

As I read the lease, the holdover provision's conditional language ("If after the expiration of the lease, the Government *1064shall retain possession of the premises ..." (emphasis added)) explains what happens once the FAA becomes a holdover tenant, but it is silent as to how the holdover tenancy may be established in the first place. The FAA interprets this silence as allowing it unfettered discretion to become a holdover tenant at the end of the lease. Given the lease's important public safety purpose, this interpretation may be reasonable. But in my view, it would be just as reasonable to…