Shoguns Gallery, Inc. v. Merrill

Defendants appeal from a judgment that reformed a commercial lease by modifying a rent escalation provision and, alternatively, declared the provision inapplicable for the first year of the lease. Defendants, the landlords, assign error to both aspects of that judgment. Plaintiff, the tenant, cross-appeals, contending that the court should have entered the declaratory judgment as the operative judgment or, alternatively, allowed a different amount of rent under the reformed lease. Because we conclude that the trial court erred in its construction and reformation of the lease, we reverse and remand.