Drafting, Exercising And Protecting Lease Renewal Rights

Introduction

The recent Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision in Delphi Management Corporation v Dawson Properties¹ deals with a number of the legal principles applicable to tenants drafting, protecting, and exercising renewal and extension rights in commercial leases.

Facts

Delphi Management Corporation (the "Tenant") was a tenant in a commercial premises owned by Dawson Properties (the "Landlord"). The lease was to expire on January 31, 2014. The Tenant brought an application heard on January 6 and January 9, 2014 for a declaration that the lease had been validly renewed for another five years.

The parties and their predecessors had been landlord and tenant from February 1, 1994. It started with an initial five year term and had been renewed three times.