Landlord Tenant Law

Keystone Specialty Services Co. v. Ebaugh Practitioners should take note that depending on the jurisdiction, a well-drafted exculpatory clause may afford additional protections to a commercial landlord, even from its own negligent acts.

Real estate executives say the construction of the office of the future is well underway within the legal industry, despite a dip in leasing activity at the beginning of the year. However, there is a shift toward "densification," as firms take advantage of favorable market conditions and make longer-term commitments.

In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court applied strict scrutiny to a sign regulation as it related to directional signs placed by a local congregation that held services at different locations each week. The Court took another look at the issue of strict scrutiny relating to "off-premises" signs in the case of City of Austin, Texas v. Reagan National Advertising , in which the majority concluded that strict scrutiny should not apply to determining whether the off-premises sign regulations at issue violated the First Amendment.

The commercial real estate industry is having little trouble shrugging off today's challenging economic situations and its optimism is brewing with recent pandemic restrictions being lifted, according to a state of the market survey from DLA Piper.

COVID-19 Does Not Trigger Frustration of Purpose or Impossibility Defenses Tenant Entitled to Actual Damages for Landlord Breach, But Not to Suspension Payment COVID-19 Does Not Excuse Failure to Pay Rent

Landlords initially renting up new RPTL 421-a buildings routinely give incoming rent-stabilized tenants rent concessions to account for the fact that construction may be ongoing, and that there may still be punch list items in the apartments. This seemingly innocuous practice, however, has led to class-action litigation wherein tenants allege that rent concessions are part of a fraudulent scheme that results in massive building-wide overcharges under the Rent Stabilization Law.

Cyclical challenges in the economy are nothing new, and 2022 is shaping up to be that kind of year for business owners nationwide. This is likely to result in a greater need for the services of bankruptcy attorneys as business owners face a mounting wave of distressed financial assets.

While growth of the job market and the economy are the most important factors affecting commercial real estate, the emergence of historic rising inflation has its effects as well.