Motter v. All the Cats, LLC
Scott Motter, Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee
All the Cats, LLC, Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant
Ghost Lounge, LLC and Larry Mason, Jr., Defendants-Appellees
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All the Cats, LLC, Counterclaim/Cross-Claim Plaintiff
Ghost Lounge, LLC, Scott Motter, and Larry Lee Mason, Jr., Counterclaim/Cross-Claim Defendants
Attorney for Appellant
David J. Hellstern and Jeffrey P. Schultz
Attorney for Appellee All the Cats, LLC
Mollie Pawlosky
Attorney for Appellee Larry Mason
Valerie Cramer
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Coleman McAllister, Judge. AFFIRMED AND REMANDED. Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Chicchelly and Sandy, JJ. Opinion by Chicchelly, J. (15 pages)
Parties to a commercial lease agreement signed one month before the start of the COVID‑19 global pandemic appeal the judgment entered by the district court for nonperformance. OPINION HOLDS: I. The record supports the trial court’s finding that nonperformance was not excused by impossibility or frustration of performance because any impossibility or frustration of performance was both temporary and partial. The record also supports its finding that a lease assignment to a third party and the property owner’s settlement with that third party did not release the personal guarantors from their obligation under lease. Because a claim that the property owner converted the lease deposit to benefit a third party was tied to performance of the lease, the district court properly denied it. We affirm the award of trial attorney fees. II. Because a lease provision about the due date for the first month of rent is reasonably open to interpretation, the district court did not err in construing it against the property owner. We affirm the amount of damages awarded for breach of contract and remand to the district court to determine a reasonable award of appellate attorney fees.