A Florida appeals court Wednesday rejected a health club’s attempt to recover rent that it paid during a government-ordered shutdown early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld a Manatee County circuit judge’s decision that Fitness International LLC, which operates clubs under the name LA Fitness, is not entitled to recoup rent that it paid for about 15 weeks in 2020 to landlord 93 FLRPT, LLC.
The health club closed on March 17, 2020, and fully reopened on June 12, 2020, after a state emergency order required fitness centers to close and then operate at 50 percent capacity.
Fitness International paid rent during the period but then sought a refund, ultimately filing a lawsuit in August 2021. Wednesday’s ruling did not detail the amount paid but turned down arguments that the health club was entitled to a refund under its lease.
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“We conclude that landlord (93 FLRPT, LLC) did not warrant or guarantee that tenant would have the right to use the premises continuously as a health club despite government-mandated restrictions. ,,, The lease, read as a whole, reveals that the parties’ intent was not for tenant to pay landlord rent in exchange for landlord’s guarantee that the premises could be used exclusively as a health club throughout the lease term; instead, landlord’s obligation was to provide possession of the premises and tenant’s obligation was to pay rent and use the premises in the manners permitted by the lease. Landlord was not obligated to ensure tenant’s particular use of the premises, and the government-mandated restrictions did not prevent tenant from paying rent,” said the 17-page ruling, written by Judge Suzanne Labrit and joined by Chief Judge Robert Morris and Judge Daniel Sleet.
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