WILLIAM FUGAR v. SOFT SHEEN CARSON

This High Court judgment by Justice K. A. Ofori Atta resolves a landlord-tenant dispute over the effectiveness of a break notice under a three-year lease for Flat No. 9 at Hansen Court, 58 Switchback Road, Cantonments, Accra. The lease permitted termination on three months’ written notice, with service methods confined to registered post to P.O. Box 6274, Accra-North or personal delivery to the landlord’s abode. The Defendant sent a termination letter dated February 12, 2010 addressed to “Hansen Court Residents Association, ATTN: The Landlord,” and also emailed a copy to Sylvia Nutsugah; it then vacated. The Plaintiff denied receipt, asserting non-compliance with Clause 5.3. The court found the email to an unproven agent and the address to the residents association did not meet the contract’s service requirements; commercial construction principles did not excuse non-compliance. The vacation was a breach. Applying mitigation principles and the property’s prime location, the court awarded eight months’ rent (US$26,400), statutory interest from April 1, 2011, and GH¢3,000 costs.