Landlord Tenant Law

In a recent decision, Bankruptcy Judge Christopher S. Sontchi addressed the question of whether a Chapter 11 debtor, the tenant under a commercial lease, could exercise an option to renew the lease during the bankruptcy proceedings, even though the debtor was in default under the lease and the lease specified that it could not be renewed if defaults existed at the time the option was exercised.

Guarantor May Not Interpose Wrongful Eviction Defense
Landlord Bound by Renewal Lease Signed After Judgment of Possession
Notice of Nonrewnal Sufficient to Withstand Jurisdictional Challenge
Incarcerated Son Not Entitled to Succession Rights
Occupant Did Not Establish Succession Rights
Court Dismisses Tortious Interference Claim By Holder of First Refusal Right

Triable Issue of Fact About Association Liability for Flooding
Unit Owner's Representations Cannot Be Used to Contradict Express Terms of Proprietary Lease

Is This The End of the 'Yellowstone' Doctrine?

Recently, New York's Appellate Division, Second Department, acknowledged that commercial landlords may employ a strategy that prevents tenants from exercising Yellowstone rights, which enjoin the landlord from terminating the lease or commencing a summary proceeding.

Slip-and-Fall Victim Cannot Recover from Landlord or Tenant

One of the key requirements of a lease, from a landlord's viewpoint, is that it ensures the landlord has the ability to access a tenant's space. When preparing a lease for a landlord, consider including the following items to make sure that the landlord is permitted access to all spaces on the premises at all appropriate times.

Tenants end up signing leases that offer little to no flexibility as their businesses expand and contract, setting the stage for economic and operational stress that could have been avoided with upfront planning and prudent lease negotiations.

Four years ago, we explored whether a commercial tenant could waive its common law right to seek a Yellowstone Injunction. At that time, there was no appellate authority directly on point. This all changed on Jan. 31, 2018, when the Appellate Division, Second Department ruled in 159 MP Corp., v Redbridge Bedford, LLC that the “commercial tenants' voluntary and limited waiver of declaratory judgment remedies in their written lease is valid and enforceable, and not violative of New York's public policy …”