ALTHOUGH THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN PLAINTIFF COUNTRY CLUB AND DEFENDANT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION, MAINTENANCE AND USE OF A BOAT SLIP WAS A LICENSE, NOT A LEASE, THE LICENSE, BY THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT, WAS NOT TERMINABLE AT WILL BY THE COUNTRY CLUB; TWO-JUSTICE DISSENT (FOURTH DEPT).
The Fourth Department, over a two-justice dissent, determined the agreement between plaintiff country club and defendant concerning the construction, maintenance and use of a boat slip was a license, not a lease, but, under the terms of the agreement, the license was not terminable at will by the country club:
… [T]he terms of the agreement unambiguously state that defendant is required to pay the annual maintenance fee and to comply with plaintiff’s rules and policies, thereby establishing through implication that plaintiff may terminate the license only when defendant fails to comply with those specified terms … . Plaintiff’s interpretation of the agreement as permitting plaintiff to terminate the license at will, despite the aforementioned provisions governing defendant’s obligations, renders those specific provisions nugatory, contrary to the general approach to interpreting contracts …
… [T]he agreement expressly permits defendant to terminate it and receive a return of the monies contributed pursuant to the payment agreement, less any monies owed to plaintiff. We agree with defendant that the express inclusion of a right of termination for her compels the conclusion that the exclusion of any corresponding express right for plaintiff to terminate the agreement was intentional … . … [The] structure of the agreement establishes that the license is not terminable at will by plaintiff. Skaneateles Country Club v Cambs, 2022 NY Slip Op 07315, Fourth Dept 12-23-22
Practice Point: Licenses for the use of real property, here the construction, maintenance and use of a boat slip, are not automatically terminable at will. Here the terms of the underlying agreement were interpreted to mean the license was terminable only if defendant breached the agreement.