Many, if not most, retail tenants hesitate to sign leases containing continuous operation clauses. Of course, this dogged determination to maintain the right to go dark and not be forced to operate no matter how bad business becomes is nothing new. But there can be no doubt that the COVID-19...
In addition to their express terms, leases are governed by so-called common law rules that apply regardless of what the agreement actually says. One of these rules is a normally obscure and arcane doctrine known as “frustration of purpose,” which applies when performing lease duties...
Death and taxes aren’t the only certainties in life. So are rises in the costs of operating commercial property. That’s why landlords generally require tenants to pay their share of operating expenses. And while most tenants are willing to go along with this arrangement...
They say that no good deed goes unpunished. And if you’ve cut tenants a break on their rent during the COVID-19 crisis, you may have learned the truth of this maxim the hard way. This is especially so if the tenant later declared for bankruptcy. Thanks to the so-called rule of preference,...
Litigation is a big hassle, and when you resort to it you want to be sure you collect as much as possible from tenants who have left the space and are no longer paying rent. But your lease may have a loophole that defaulting tenants can rely on to get a court to reduce or even...
Although premises liability and the risk of negligence litigation are perennial concerns for commercial property owners, COVID-19 infuses these issues with a new immediacy. The nightmare scenario: Tenants and/or their employees, customers, vendors, or other invitees who get COVID will claim they...
As it has with most every other aspect of leasing, the COVID-19 crisis has played havoc with landlords’ efforts to collect unpaid rent from tenants’ guarantors. And now as a second and more deadly surge of cases threatens further government shutdowns, landlords need to be aware of...
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...
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?
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’...
By enabling tenants to surrender part of their space, contraction options can keep tenants viable, out of bankruptcy, and in their leases. This may be the perfect antidote to the staff reductions, stay-at-home orders, and uncertainty over future space needs created by the pandemic.
