Also known as: paramount titles · superior title
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A superior legal or equitable interest in leased property held by a third party that is not terminable at the landlord's will and remains in force when the tenant is entitled to possession. The interest takes priority over the leasehold so that its assertion can deprive the tenant of the contemplated use. After the tenant takes possession an eviction under the paramount title breaches the landlord's obligations.
Pierce Patterson held a three-year lease from the port authority that ended June 30. After the term expired Pierce continued mooring barges at the dock claiming ownership under a prior unrecorded deed. The authority had already leased the same space to Riverline Logistics effective July 1.
Prime Logistics leased a private dock from the port authority for fifteen years. Three years earlier Global Marine had received a recorded forty-year concession to manage all berths at the port that was not terminable at the authority's will. Global demanded that Prime vacate the dock.
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Penelope Price leased the fifteenth floor of a building from Olivia. Three years earlier Olivia had executed a recorded contract for deed conveying the entire building to Seaside REIT. Seaside demanded possession from Penelope under its earlier equitable interest.
Prosperity Investments leased an entire warehouse from its owner. A recorded mortgage on only the rear loading bay was already in place and not terminable at the owner's will. The mortgagee foreclosed and took possession of the bay after the lease began.
Paul Peterson took possession under a twenty-year ground lease from Oceanfront. After entry a senior mortgagee foreclosed and evicted Paul from the entire parcel. Paul had no notice of the mortgage when the lease was signed.
Pamela Phillips signed a five-year lease with a landlord who had previously leased the same space to another tenant whose term had not yet ended. The prior tenant remained in possession and refused to leave when Pamela's term began.
A legal or equitable interest qualifies when it exists at the time the lease is made, is not terminable at the landlord's will, and remains in force when the tenant is entitled to possession. The interest then takes priority over the leasehold.
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The tenant may terminate the lease and recover damages or, if the paramount title affects only part of the premises, affirm the lease as to the unaffected portion and obtain damages plus rent abatement.
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No. After possession begins the landlord breaches only if the holder of the paramount title actually evicts the tenant and thereby deprives the tenant of the contemplated use.
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The concession is paramount because it predates the lease and is not terminable at the landlord's will. The later tenant therefore takes subject to the concession and cannot obtain a declaration that its lease controls.
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…any act or omission of the landlord or of anyone who acts under authority or legal right from the landlord, or of someone having superior title to that of the landlord, which renders the premises substantially unsuitable for the purpose for which they are leased, or which seriously interferes with the beneficial enjoyment of the…