Baston v. Davis, 229 Ark. 666

Summary

The assignee abandoned the filling station after the assignor assigned the lease. The lessor later leased the property to an unrelated party in order to mitigate damages. The assignee contended that the trial court erred in refusing to direct a verdict in favor of the assignee. The court agreed, on the ground that the issue of damages should have gone to the jury. The court stressed that the assignee was liable for rent for the entire term of the lease, having accepted the lease and taken possession of the premises. The fact that the assignee never signed the assignment document did not bring the matter within the Statute of Frauds because the assignee took possession of the property. But an issue of fact remained as to the amount of damages because there was a period between the assignee's abandonment of the property and the lessor's eventual re-letting of the property when the assignor had possession of the property. The jury, properly instructed of the assignor's duty to mitigate ...