Allens Arthur Robinson have written an article about a Queensland Court of Appeal case in which a sub-tenant obtained an order for relief against forfeiture in circumstances where the tenant was insolvent and failed to pay the rent as it fell due (see http://bit.ly/pEIs17).
The case is a prime demonstration of the principle that if the rent is paid, in the vast majority of cases the tenant will obtain an order for relief against forfeiture.
The facts were that the sub-tenant had operated a workshop business on a part of the leased premises (a workhop and service station in Mackay, Queensland) for 25 years. The Court of Appeal found that the sub-tenant's interest in remaining in possession was greater than the landlord's interest in finding a tenant for the entire workshop and service station property. The sub-tenant was granted relief against forfeiture in the form of a lease for the balance of the term of the original lease (until June 2012).
