Landlord's Duty To Mitigate After Tenant Default

Summary

A recent Hong Kong Court of First Instance judgment, in Foxhill Investments Ltd v Sino Golden International Group Holdings Ltd [2021] HKCFI 3662 (HCA 2938/2018, 15 December 2021), clarifies the scope of the obligation of the landlord to mitigate its loss upon a tenant's repudiatory breach of a tenancy agreement.

Brief facts

This was a typical case of a delinquent tenant.

In repudiatory breach of the Tenancy Agreement, the Tenant had failed to pay rent, management expenses and government rates for the Premises.

The Landlord commenced legal proceedings against the Tenant before the Court of First Instance. The Tenant failed to file an intention to defend within the prescribed time.