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Top court holds tenants may.withhold rent to' force repairs

Survey: firms expe.trim '92 salary hikelowest level in 20 .y

Volume 21, Number 13

by Barbara Rattle c. top court also ruled that tenants habitable at theoutset of the leaseManaging Editor. . :'.:may recover special damages for. term and will remairi So during' Continued uncertainty about next year to their

A unenimous Utah SUpreme . Personal injury, property dam- the course of the tenancy." _ the U.S. economy is taking some nearly two decaciCowt last week adopted the con- age,relocationexpensesorotiJer While determination of; of the steani out of corporate Sibson & Co.'cept of warranty of habitability similar injuries occurring as a whether a dwelling is habitable America's compensation pro- "CompensationPwith regard to the rental or leas- foreseeable result of a landlord's depends on the individual facts of grams, according to a new survey. which was baseing of real property, and ruled breach. They may also recover each case, she said, "as a general Recent growth of incentive from 550 comparthat tenants may withhold rent if general damages in the form of rule, the warranty of habitability' compensation programs for non- virtually all indu.a landlord fails to cure abreach of rentabatementorreirnbursement requires that the landlord main- executive employees leveled off The numbe:the warranty, thus "motivating 'The concept of warranty of tain 'bare living requirements' in 1991,according toNewJersey- offering variablethe landlord to repair the prem- habitability," wrote Justice and that the premises are fit for based Sibson & Co., a human toemployeesbelcises,' I Christine M. Durham for the human occupation," Durham resource management consulting ranks - 51 perce

"Under the prevailing con- i - court, " ...is based on the theory said. firm. unchanged this ytemporaryviewoftheresidential. that the residential landlord war- Failure to supply h~tor~t-..,.;'. Furthermore, companies j; !~und. .lease. as: .,'a. ~·.contractual~if~thaUheleasedpremiseSare . See COURT page two -, --,. .: expecttotrimtheirsalaryincreases Vanable paytransaction ...the teMnt~s obliga-' . profit sharing, ye:

~;:1~~~:~~~~~~~;~'$70million discount toy retailer to ~=~a;::~!tr.rtQf~.~7.~~~eurt·;·<enter·tUtahl·with !'facto~outlet<store .'.._,':r:~~:!~an7e

In a landmark decision, the . by Joe Stewart·Mash Four percent of rL'e: g,·sla· tor' Staff Writer The concern does not carry ValueMerchants' sharesare considering addir.

damaged goods, he added,. publiclytradedonNASDAQ,an4fears court Toy Liquidators, 1l0-store . ' Kastel said he believes that, there are seven million shares 4 . see COMPENSAla division of Milwaukee, Wis~ value-based outlets appeal to outstanding. Annual sales come SL' s Sterilling may:· cousin-based Value Merchants ;' people in all income levels, and in at about $140 million, withInc., is planning to open 3'3,000 that shopping at outlet malls has Toy Liquidators contributing Me d ica Ihave backlash square foot factory outlet store become an all-day event in itself. about half the volume.

Utah House of Representa- the Park City Outlet Mall in time Value Merchants, formerly for Chaptives Speaker Craig Moody for the traditional Christmas the Wisconsin Toy Co., which The company plans to open "voiced concern last week about shopping season. was founded in 1944 to act pri- 20 new stores annually with 10- reorgan I.the state Supreme Court's land- The primary focus of Value marily a toy wholesaler, has 110 cations determined by the num- by Lara Bringardmark decision in W~ v. lobe.' Merchants is the "value end of stores located only inoutlet malls her of outlet malls built nation- Staff Writerin which the top court held that retailing," according to Gary across the country. wide. Publicly-held::enants may withhold rent until Kastel, director of corporate Salt Lake aga,·n rated one of cal Systems Inc., :.heir premises are rendered communications for Value Mer- '1 W.•West ValleyCi'habitable" by landlords. chants, whose other major divi-. nation's best housing markets employer of nearly

Moody, lead sponsor of the sion is All A Dollar. the manufacture, .Jtah Fit Premises Act - Utah's The difference between Toy Salt Lake continues to be a age." and developmentIrst pro-tenantlegislation, which Liquidators and othertoy factory bright spot in the nation's other- The Mountain region not equipment hasmeavent into effect in 1990,oneyear outlet retailers is that Toy Liqui- wise laclduster housing industry, . only enjoyed the best job growth petition with the Iifterthe W 'ade case was heard - dators offers toys from a variety a national research publication trend in the last four quarters, it Bankruptcy Courtaid the ability to withhold pay-. of manufacturers rather than just reported last week. has also seen a rebound in trict of Utah.nent might very well be used by one, as is the case with traditional In a second quarter report, homebuilding. "We had to memscrupuloustenants toavoid the , outlet stores Kastel explained. Livonia, Michigan-based U.S. "For the second quarter," theunsecuredcredinesponsibility of paying rent. Kastel stated thatToyLiqui- .Housing Markets, a publication U.S. Housing Markets states, holders, and it [the

'There's been a game going. dators sells quality national brand ·of Dallas-headquartered Lomas 'The Mountain states had a bet- brought about by Ccn for years between tenants and toys that either did not sell well Mortgage USA, notes that Salt ter year-to-year improvement in Fund's refusal to aceindlords, and this [the right to or are manufacturer's overruns. Lake is among only five U.S. single-familypermitvolumethan nancingplan,"presid/ithhold rent] will only open the . markets with a total building any other region in the country. Dale Putnam saidoor to more game-playing," lnside permit gain to mid-year, fueled The single famiJy rebounds in added he expects the100dy opined last week. in part by the creation of 12,600 Denver-Boulder, Phoenix and to be back on track

Rent withholding was delib- new jobs in the metro area in the SaIt Lake City carried the re- weeks pending courtrately left out of the Utah Fit Mortgage rates page 15 last four quarters - "one of the gion.' the firm's reorganizzremises Act - which passed in Alston Chase page II best in the nation." Salt Lake ranked number "It is a plannedIe 1990 session after a decade's Mike Christensen page 14 According tothepublication, four on the publication's "Bio- .: ~__ ,

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