Beale Street Development Corp. v. Miller
Tennessee Court of Appeals
2003 WL 1618068 (2003)

- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
Beale Street Development Corporation (BSDC) (plaintiff) gave George Miller (defendant) an option to buy property that Miller leased from BSDC. Miller could exercise the option by paying off the mortgage and any liens on the property. Miller and Curtis Calvin (plaintiff) later signed a sublease agreement that contained its own four-year purchase option. Calvin could trigger his option by agreeing to pay off the mortgage and tendering a $25,000 down payment to Miller, who would then buy the property from BSDC and resell it to Calvin. The sublease made no mention of nonmortgage liens on the property. Calvin subsequently informed Miller that he wanted to exercise his purchase option and that he expected Miller to pay off a nonmortage lien of $42,600 for unpaid taxes. Miller refused to go forward unless Calvin agreed to lift the tax lien. After his purchase option expired, Calvin intervened in ongoing litigation between BSDC and Miller to complain that Miller had unjustly prevented Calvin from exercising his purchase option. The trial court dismissed Calvin’s complaint, and Calvin appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Highers, J.)
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