NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation modifying existing rent laws and enacting significant landlord-tenant reforms. To date, the real estate industry has focused primarily on the sweeping impact the new laws will have on residential tenancies and the deregulation of rent-stabilized apartments. The reforms, however, also dramatically impact commercial tenancies by altering non-residential summary proceedings and significantly hampering the ability of commercial landlords to respond effectively and quickly to tenant defaults.
The COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in landlords and tenants closely reviewing a clause in their lease that was long considered unimportant boilerplate. Yes, we are referring to the “force majeure” provision.
