Lee v. Placer Title Co.

Defendant Placer Title Company leased space in a shopping center owned by plaintiffs Phillip and Judy Lee. Defendant stopped paying rent and vacated the premises, claiming fumes from an adjoining dry cleaning business made its office unusable. Plaintiffs filed a complaint for rent owing on the remainder of the lease. When the court ruled the terms of the lease precluded defendant from asserting a defense based on a constructive eviction theory, the parties entered into a stipulated agreement, allowing judgment to be entered in favor of plaintiffs and permitting defendant to appeal the court’s ruling on the constructive eviction defense.

Judgment was entered accordingly on August 10, 1992, and defendant now appeals, asserting: (1) the court lacked jurisdiction to enter this judgment because the case had been dismissed one month earlier, on July 9, 1992; and (2) the court erred in ruling the terms of the parties’ lease precluded a defense based on constructive eviction. Because neither contention has merit, we shall affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

In December 1983, plaintiffs entered into a five-year lease with Walker and Lee Real Estate (Walker) for office…