Wesson v. Leone Enterprises, Inc., 437 Mass. 708 (2002)

Citation: Wesson v. Leone Enterprises, Inc., 437 Mass. 708 (2002)
Parent Document: Wesson v. Leone Enterprises, Inc., 437 Mass. 708 (2002)
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date: 2002-09-09
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/6578571/wesson-v-leone-enterprises-inc/ ↗

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Ordinarily, judicial changes to contract and property law are applied prospectively only, “ [primarily because of concern for litigants and others who have relied on existing precedents.” Payton v. Abbott Labs, 386 Mass. 540, 565 (1982). See Johnson Controls, Inc. v. Bowes, 381 Mass. 278, 282-283 (1980) (insurance contracts); Whitinsville Plaza, Inc. v. Kotseas, 378 Mass. 85, 97-98 (1979) (covenants not to compete in deeds and leases). Such concerns are compelling where “the change of existing laws involves a previously unquestioned aspect of . . . law, in which reliance interests exert a strong influence.” Johnson Controls, Inc. v. Bowes, supra at 283 n.4. These are not the circumstances of the mie we adopt in this case. The abandonment of the rule of independent covenants in commercial leases has been foreshadowed at least since our 1973 decision in Boston Hous. Auth. v. Hemingway, supra, in which we abandoned the mie in residential leases. In the interim, the Restatement (Second) of Property (Landlord and Tenant) (1977) adopted the mle of dependent covenants, and the lack of continued vitality in Massachusetts of the role of independent covenants has been foreshadowed in cases decided by the Appeals Court, Holmes Realty Trust v. Granite City Storage Co., supra, and by the Federal court, Reed v. United States Postal Serv., supra. In these circumstances, commercial landlords and tenants have had ample warning and opportunity to anticipate such a change and to incorporate appropriate provisions in their lease agreements. The concern for reliance on unquestioned precedent is simply not present here. Consequently, we apply the mie to the lease in this case.

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