Yes. In September 2026 the Massachusetts Appeals Court upheld a damages award of more than $2.8 million against a Boston restaurant, and held its operator personally liable under his guaranty, because the restaurant never paid the landlord back for cleanup after a grease trap failure and the lease made that unpaid charge a default. The court also held that COVID-19 closure orders did not trigger the lease’s casualty clause. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.
What happened
The restaurant signed a commercial lease in 2014 for a term of up to fifteen years, and its operator signed a personal guaranty. The lease required the tenant to maintain the grease traps and to pay all cleanup and repair costs if grease overflowed. In June 2019 the top of the grease trap blew off and flooded the bathrooms. The landlord paid for repairs and asked to be reimbursed. The tenant collected on its own insurance claim but never paid the landlord any of the grease trap charges. In March 2020 the restaurant closed during the COVID-19 orders and never reopened. The landlord sent a notice of default listing the grease trap charges and then terminated the lease.
What the court decided
In 10 High Street Restaurant, LLC v. Power, No. 25-P-1101 (Mass. App. Ct. September 11, 2026) (Rule 23.0 decision), the court affirmed the Superior Court judgments for the landlord.
The default was real. The lease made it an event of default to fail to pay rent or other charges within ten days after written notice. Unambiguous contract language is enforced according to its plain meaning. Balles v. Babcock Power Inc., 476 Mass. 565 (2017). The tenant had been on notice for more than eight months that the landlord wanted reimbursement, and the notice of default repeated the invoice amounts. The court agreed the tenant was in material default before the pandemic, and that the landlord could terminate for that reason alone.
COVID-19 did not trigger the casualty clause. The lease abated rent when government action materially destroyed or damaged the premises. The court recognized that the pandemic orders were catastrophic for restaurants, but held that business losses are not the kind of destruction or damage that clause covered.
The guaranty covered the lost rent. The guaranty would have ended only if the tenant met strict conditions to set a vacate date, including paying all of its obligations through that date. The unpaid grease trap charges meant those conditions were never met. After termination, the lease made the tenant pay the difference between the rent due and any rent the landlord received from a new tenant. The court held that amount fell within the guaranty of rent, so the operator was personally liable.
Mitigation and fees. The trial judge reduced the damages by more than $1.1 million for the landlord’s failure to mitigate. The tenant argued the credit should have been larger, but the court found the award had a rational basis in the evidence. The court also upheld the attorney’s fee award because the guaranty separately required the guarantor to pay the landlord’s reasonable attorney’s fees, a basis the appeal did not challenge. It allowed the landlord to seek its fees for the appeal. The tenant also had to return the liquor license under the lease.
What this means for you
If you run a business in a leased space, this case is a warning. A dispute over a few repair invoices can become the reason your landlord ends a lease worth millions. Commercial leases often treat any unpaid charge, not just rent, as a default once the landlord sends written notice. If you do not pay or cure in time, the landlord may be able to terminate and, if the lease allows it, collect rent for the rest of the term.
Do not assume an outside event protects you. Pandemic orders hurt many businesses, but the court read the casualty clause by its plain words, and lost business did not count as damage to the premises.
If you signed a personal guaranty, your own money may be on the line. Escape terms in a guaranty are often strict. Missing one condition can keep you liable for the full term.
What to do now
- Read your lease’s default and notice sections. Know how many days you have to pay or cure after a notice.
- Never ignore a notice of default. Respond in writing, and pay disputed charges under protest if needed to avoid termination.
- Check your casualty, force majeure and rent abatement clauses before you rely on them.
- Read your personal guaranty, especially any surrender or vacate date terms, and follow them exactly.
- Get legal advice before you stop paying, move out or hand back keys.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. These cases move on short deadlines.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
