Drafting Tips
January 28, 2014
It’s crucial that your tenants are adequately insured. To make sure of this, your leases may list by name the insurance coverage that the tenants must get and maintain. If you think you’re covering all your bases by writing this into the lease in such a specific way, you could actually...
Q & A
January 28, 2014
Q: I lease property to a wide variety of tenants, and I have leases that are technical and complicated. If a term or terms in one of these leases turned out to be illegal, what effect would it have on the rest of the agreement?
Owner Wins
January 28, 2014
Facts: The shopping center where a general store-type tenant rented space was damaged when the area experienced flooding. The tenant sued the owner of the shopping center, among other parties including the adjacent tenant (a grocery store) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The...
Owner Loses
January 28, 2014
Facts: A foot care clinic rented office space and exam rooms in a strip mall. Its lease provided that the owner wouldn’t place a retail business in space “adjoining” the tenant. The owner subsequently leased space in the strip mall to a liquor store. The liquor store and tenant...
Feature
December 17, 2013
Most leases contain an assignment clause that requires tenants to get your consent before they may assign their leases. But some leases contain a loophole that risks giving the tenant too broad a right and being forced later to rent space to a tenant that isn’t appropriate for your shopping...
Q & A
December 17, 2013
Q: I’m vigilant about making sure that the office building I recently bought is compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but it can be expensive to do this. How can I pass some of the costs through to tenants?
Owner Loses
December 17, 2013
Facts: A shopping center owner and a women’s clothing store signed a lease for space next to a large national bookstore. The lease’s cotenancy provision allowed the tenant to abate its minimum monthly rent if the bookstore stopped operating. After several years, the bookstore moved out...
Owner Loses
December 17, 2013
Facts: A shopper was hit by a motorist on the sidewalk outside of a shopping center tenant’s store. The shopper sued the center’s owner and the tenant. The owner and the tenant each asked a trial court for a judgment in its favor without a trial. Each said that the other had a duty of...
Online Alerts
December 17, 2013
The findings from a recent CIT Group Inc. survey may make 2014 a little brighter for the CRE industry. That’s because middle-market commercial real estate executives are expressing cautious optimism toward the market and are looking to take advantage of long-term investment opportunities,...
In the News
December 17, 2013
The findings from a recent CIT Group Inc. survey may make 2014 a little brighter for the CRE industry. That’s because middle-market commercial real estate executives are expressing cautious optimism toward the market and are looking to take advantage of long-term investment opportunities,...