Feature

Protect Yourself When Letting Tenants Tap Security Deposit to Pay Rent

November 18, 2020    
The tenant security deposit is the piggy bank that you don’t want to break open while the lease remains in effect, unless it’s absolutely, positively necessary. And with COVID-19 cases resurging and the prospects of business shutdowns looming, we may be getting close to that absolutely...
Related Tools: Spell Out Tenant's Duty to Replenish Security Deposit
Brokers’ Buzz

You Make the Call: Did the Broker Commit Fraud?

November 18, 2020    
In their eagerness to get the lease signed, brokers may be inclined to make statements about what the document says (or doesn’t say) to allay the concerns of one of the parties. So, what happens if the landlord or tenant takes the broker at its word and signs the lease, only to discover that...
Pop Quiz

Can Landlords Limit Liability for ADA Violations by Removing Structural Barriers?

November 18, 2020    
WHAT HAPPENED Workers hired by the landlord of a medical office building place a 55-gallon barrel that’s been cut in half to serve as a planter on the access ramp leading to the only public entrance of the building, leaving just 30 inches on either side for entrants to squeeze through. In...
Owner Wins

Bankruptcy Court Lifts Stay to Let Owner Evict Assignee in Chapter 11

November 18, 2020    
What Happened: An airport tenant assigned its lease to an assignee. In June 2020, the owner and tenant signed an agreement terminating the lease. In August, the assignee filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The owner asked for permission to bring a lawsuit to evict the assignee since the underlying...
Owner Loses

Tenant Can Exercise Its Lease Kick-Out Rights Despite Notice Snafus

November 18, 2020    
What Happened: A lease for a shopping center included the following clause:
Owner Loses

Landlord and Tenant Blame Each Other for Sprinkler Malfunction

November 18, 2020    
What Happened: A pharmaceutical company used the warehouse it sublet to store its drug products. But the warehouse sprinkler system went haywire and inflicted $265,110 in damage to the products. The company sued the landlord and tenant. Naturally, each side blamed the other and filed cross claims...
Feature

Landlords Draw First Blood in Battle for Coverage of COVID-19 Losses

October 21, 2020    
Do financial losses that a landlord, tenant, or other business incurs as a result of COVID-19 and the resulting government shutdowns count as a “direct physical loss” covered by business interruption insurance?
Negotiating Tips

11 Best Practices for Seeking COVID-19 Financial Relief from Your Lender

October 21, 2020    
It’s become abundantly clear that to overcome the economic dislocation caused by COVID-19, landlords must be able to work not only with their tenants but also their lenders. For one thing, you probably can’t offer tenants rent concessions and other relief without your lenders’...
Pop Quiz

Is Rent Escalation Liquidated Damages Clause for Radius Clause Violation Enforceable?

October 21, 2020    
Liquidated damages clauses can be a convenient way to incentivize performance and avoid disputes over the price tag of breaches. One common use of such clauses is to require the tenant to pay predetermined rent increases in the event it violates a covenant not to open a competing business within a...
Related Tools: Set Rent Escalation as Liquidated Damages for Tenant's Breach of Radius Restriction
Owner Loses

No Evicting Tenant for Slight Delay in Curing Rent Nonpayment During COVID

October 21, 2020    
What Happened: Bed Bath & Beyond (BB&B) didn’t provide the necessary sales records to verify its percentage rent payments, concluded the landlord’s auditor in the spring of 2017. The landlord didn’t talk to BB&B or otherwise follow up on the audit. Move ahead three...
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