Chesney v. Stevens

CAVANAUGH, Judge:

This appeal requires us to decide whether a landlord is required to reimburse his tenant for the cost of improvements that the tenant unilaterally makes to the leased premises. The trial court ruled that appellant-landlord, John Stevens, was required to reimburse appellees-tenants, James and Cora Chesney, $11,790.00 for the improvements they made to the leased realty under a theory of unjust enrichment. After careful review and for the reasons which follow, we affirm.

In 1984, appellant-landlord and appellees-tenants entered into a month-to-month lease for a piece of…