Owner Loses
March 17, 2020
What Happened: Two unknown assailants attacked a GameStop customer in the parking lot of the property it leased. The customer sued GameStop for negligence. GameStop argued that it's not liable for what happened in the parking lot, because it doesn’t control that property; the landlord...
Feature
February 19, 2020
We’ll give you seven lease protections against liability for “contributory infringement.”
Big fashion houses and producers of luxury goods have found a new and effective way to combat counterfeiting: Rather than chase after the small-potatoes vendors that sell...
Beyond the Lease
February 19, 2020
If a retail tenant uses leased property to sell counterfeit goods, like knockoff Rolex watches, the brand owner can sue not only the tenant but also the landlord, which is often a preferable option considering that the landlord usually has deeper pockets. And landlords who know about but turn a...
Pop Quiz
February 19, 2020
SITUATION: With 24 months remaining on its lease, a tenant vacates the premises and stops paying its $10,000 per month rent. After six months of marketing and sales efforts, the landlord finds a replacement tenant willing to pay $15,000 per month. The replacement tenant also pays the landlord a $...
Owner Wins
February 19, 2020
What Happened: Roughly 18 months into a five-year lease, the landlord sued to evict a tenant for late payment of rent. After settling with the tenant out of court, the landlord asked the tenant’s guarantor to pay the rent for the remaining months of the lease.
