Hazara Enterprises., Inc. v. Motiva Enterprises., LLC, 126 F. Supp. 2d 1365 (S.D. Fla. 12-21-00)

Question of first impression. Whether voluntary loss of underlying lease qualified as a reasonable basis for franchise termination where franchisor held a right to continue possession of the leased marketing premises through a fixed future date, but did not hold a right or option to extend the lease beyond the scheduled expiration date of the franchise. Franchisor failed to offer to assign this interest in continued possession to its franchisee when it decided to terminate or nonrenew the franchise on that basis. Court denied Defendant Motiva's Motion for Summary Judgment, holding that an option to continue an existing leasehold is an option to extend the underlying lease for purposes of § 2802(c)(4). However, summary judgment granted in favor of Motiva on the issue of whether PMPA requires a terminating franchisor to include potentially hazardous USTs in a bona fide offer to sell.