Housing Authority of Jackson County v. Gates

Where a written lease specifically refers to another writing as being part of the entire agreement, that other writing is part of the lease agreement.

Gates leased an apartment owned by the Housing Authority of Jackson County (HAJC). About ten months into the lease, police responded to a noise complaint at Gates' apartment and arrested him for possession of methamphetamine. HAJC terminated Gates' lease for violation of a material part of the occupancy rule, namely the prohibition of illegal activities on premises. The trial court found that the occupancy rules were not expressly incorporated into the lease agreement and therefore Gates did not violate the terms of his lease agreement. The Court of Appeals examined the language of the contract and determined that the language of the lease did, in fact, incorporate the occupancy rules. Precisely, the language in the lease referred to the entire agreement - including the occupancy rules - as being represented by the terms of the lease, along with the attachments noted at the end of the lease document. Reversed and remanded