Features

"VARA-90": What Landlords Can Do to Stop the Aerosol Spread … of Graffiti Artists' Claims
How did the artists qualify for protection under the Visual Artists Rights Act, how could the owners know whether the artists had achieved "recognized stature" warranting prevention of their works' destruction, and what could the owners have done to avoid liability while retaining the right to dispose of their properties as they saw fit?
Features

Effects of COVID-19 Shutdown on Commercial Real Estate
Much attention has been paid to the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on income, unemployment and cash flow for businesses. But new research takes an eye opening look at what the shutdown of many businesses may do to the worth of commercial real estate.
Features

Commercial Lease Requirements During the Pandemic
Can a commercial tenant that is required to be closed during the COVID-19 pandemic be relieved of, or does it have a defense to, the obligation to continue to pay rent? The short answer is possibly yes, but the situation is unprecedented and the answer may have to be determined in litigation.
Features

COVID-19: Should Landlords Apply Security Deposits to Unpaid Rents?
There are currently several bills in various stages of being passed into law in several states as of early April, which would restrict, on a temporary basis, the eviction of commercial tenants from their leased premises for failure to pay rent, Whether these bills get signed into law and survive judicial scrutiny remains to be seen. The question then is whether a landlord may enforce the security deposit section of its lease and take the deposit should the tenant miss a rent payment.
Features

5 Lease and Finance Options To Help Conserve — or Even Create — Capital
Five options available that leasing and financing can help law firms not only to deploy their business continuity requirements in the short term, but also improving liquidity now and better position the firm for their future.
Features

Personal Guaranty of Commercial Lease Held Discharged in Guarantor's Bankruptcy
As we prepare for the anticipated increase in bankruptcy filings caused by the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the economy, many practitioners are trying to compare this to the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s. One of the issues that keeps coming up cycle after cycle is whether a personal guaranty of a commercial lease is discharged in the bankruptcy of the individual guarantor. Court decisions have split on this issue for years.
Features

What a Difference 3 Months Can Make
The coronavirus has brokers guessing as to how this will affect leasing in the short term, and a report says leasing activity is likely to have a degree of decline in transaction volumes compared to pre-crisis expectations
Features

Coronavirus 'Brutal' for Real Estate Transactions as Lenders Hit Brakes on Financing
Much like other everyday activities, real estate transactions are coming to a halt because lenders are holding back over the coronavirus pandemic.
Features

The Coronavirus Is Delaying a Construction Project. What Does Your Contract Say?
Construction project delays that could put developers in default of their contracts. Now is the time to re-examine those contracts to see what exactly they have agreed to.
Features

Construction Management Agreements: Pricing
This article covers the pricing of construction management agreements (CMAs), including the fee of the construction manager, general conditions costs, subcontract costs, contingency and insurance. Note: Where appropriate, we will make distinctions between "cost-plus" and guaranteed maximum price (GMP) CMAs.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright LawsThis article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.Read More ›
- Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.Read More ›
- The Article 8 Opt InThe Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.Read More ›
- Cutting Off the Stream: How United States v. Silver Affects "Stream of Benefits" or "Retainer" BriberyAlthough the court stressed that, by vacating certain of former NY State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's counts of conviction, it was clarifying and not altering the "as opportunities arise" theory, it nevertheless emphasized that this theory requires particularity with respect to the "question or matter" that is the subject of the bribe payor and recipient's corrupt agreement.Read More ›