It is the time of year when the Great British weather batters buildings up and down the country causing signs to fall off some and roofs to cave in! Beware, though, if you are the Landlord or manager of a mixed use building – emergency repairs may cost you more than you think. Section 20 … Continue Reading
On August 19, 2014, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed a trial court’s decision not to reduce accelerated damages awarded to a landlord to present value, thereby strengthening the landlord’s position with respect to acceleration clauses in an already landlord-friendly state. The case, Newman Development Group of Pottstown, LLC v. Genuardi’s Family Market, Inc. and Safeway, … Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Act No. 129 of 2012 (effective September 4, 2012), amended the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 to provide for the disposition of personal property deemed abandoned by a tenant. The Pennsylvania legislature has returned to this subject with Pennsylvania Act No. 167 of 2014 (effective December 21, 2014). Under the prior law, there … Continue Reading
When tenants offer landlords guarantees of their lease liabilities landlords need to take care what assignment rights the tenant can have and this was demonstrated in last week’s Court of Appeal decision in Tindall Cobham 1 Ltd v Adda Hotels. As you may recall, prior to the KS Victoria case (previously reported here) it was … Continue Reading
Subrogation is the principle under which an insurer that has paid a loss under an insurance policy is entitled to all of the rights and remedies belonging to the insured against a third party with respect to any loss covered by the policy. In simple terms, subrogation means substitution of one person for another. Subrogation … Continue Reading
This entry was written by Lesley Vars and Leah Speckhard Recent years have seen the increase in popularity of pop-up shops as solutions for landlords in need of cash flow. Retailers like pop-ups as a chance to test the waters before signing a long-term lease or to sell seasonal merchandise. Pop-up shops began to take … Continue Reading
Landlords and secured lenders (i.e., lenders with a security interest in tenant’s personal property as collateral for a large loan) should remember to consider underlying applicable state law governing removal of a defaulted tenant’s property when negotiating landlord waivers or collateral access agreements. Competing interests are at play between landlords and secured lenders when it … Continue Reading
A landlord may request a principal of a tenant or an affiliated entity to guarantee lease obligations if the prospective tenant has a less-than-ideal credit profile. In a tenant-friendly market, few landlords will be successful in this pursuit. Consequently, a savvy landlord may request a sufficient security deposit, plus a limited or “Good Guy” Guaranty … Continue Reading
Considered boilerplate, lease provisions addressing estoppel certificates are often glossed over during negotiations (or ignored entirely). However, estoppel certificates are important documents in the event a Landlord wants to sell or finance its property. With a bit of consideration during lease negotiations, estoppel clauses can meet a landlord’s needs without being an undue burden to its … Continue Reading
When landlords negotiate amendments or extensions of leases with existing tenants, it can be easy to overlook a very simple but important part of the documentation process: the reaffirmation of an existing guaranty of lease. A reaffirmation of guaranty from a guarantor of the tenant’s obligations under a lease can be as simple as … Continue Reading
Many commercial leases pass through to tenants a proportionate share of the landlord’s operating expenses and taxes for the property based on terms expressed in the lease. However, some landlords attempt to pass-through certain taxes that a tenant should not be expected to pay. A recent lease negotiation on behalf of an industrial client … Continue Reading
Recently, the Commercial Lease Law Insider advised landlords to avoid lease disputes by refusing to disclose the square footage of the space. The Landlord is well advised to follow a course of action that creates trust and fosters a mutually beneficial long term Landlord/Tenant relationship. https://www.commercialleaselawinsider.com/article/dont-put-square-footage-or-dimensions-lease. The size of the tenant’s space, expressed in square … Continue Reading
The August 2013 issue of the Commercial Lease Law Insider featured an article about negotiating lease radius clauses which was voted the best issue of 2013 by the publication’s insider subscribers. Why would radius clauses garner such interest? Radius clauses are an important tool at the disposal of a retail landlord to protect its economic … Continue Reading
Almost inevitably, a landlord will be faced with a request from a tenant for permission to assign the tenant’s lease or sublet the premises, likely due to a change to the tenant’s business that forces the tenant to reduce costs. A key to balancing the landlord’s interests to control the use of its property and … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Jon Pike and Richard Perkins. Last spring we posted on the difficulties facing landlords and tenants as a result of the High Court decision in Good Harvest. Yesterday we had some good news as the Court of Appeal has reconsidered the point and introduced some commercial common sense into the law.… Continue Reading
Effecting a lease break can be vital to a tenant’s business plans. There are a vast number of reported cases on the question of whether notices have been validly served. There are many more property lawyers’ files where the operation of a break is challenged. Tenants need to take great care and seek legal advice … Continue Reading