Honey v. Davis

We granted review of a decision of the Court of Appeals to the effect that lessors in a long-term ground lease who subordinated their interest in the leased land to a lending institution, in order to assist the lessee in securing financing for improvements to the leasehold, were sureties for the lessee. We reverse the Court of Appeals, concluding that the lessors, under the facts of this case, are not sureties.

Dr. Robert Davis and Earl McCarthy were partners doing business as Mid-Valley Mall Ltd. (Mid-Valley), a partnership that was formed for the purpose of developing a shopping mall. In…