Litigation

Lifetime Leasehold Interest Does Not Exempt Apartment from Rent Stabilization Exculpatory Clause Bars Tenant's Claim for Lost Profits Resulting from Landlord's Negligence Landlord's Reliance on Representations of Prior Owners Does Not Preclude Finding That Overcharge Was Willful, Resulting In Treble Damages Tenant's Failure to Pay Rent and Other Charges Forfeits Tenant's Right to Renew Questions of Fact Remain About Tenants Liability for Holdover Charges Tenant's Proposed Withdrawal of Application for Loft Board Coverage Void As Against Public Policy

Purchaser Who Did Not Record Until After Notice of Pendency In Foreclosure Action Not Entitled to Intervene Recording of Senior Mortgage Put Junior Mortgagee on Constructive Notice Issues of Fact Preclude Summary Judgment on Easement Claims Purchaser's Claim for Damages Against Dual Agent Broker Survives Summary Judgment Title Insurance Regulations Upheld

The Hoskins case highlighted the manner by which the DOJ (and the SEC, which has civil enforcement jurisdiction under the FCPA) can harness the common-law doctrine of agency to expand the reach of the statute.

Voluntary Turnover or Face Contempt Lessors who repossess property immediately prior to a lessee bankruptcy filing may be required to return such property or face sanctions by the bankruptcy court. Federal courts are currently split on the issue of whether the lessor must voluntary surrender property seized petition or may hold such property until such time as the debtor seeks, and obtains, an order of turnover.

The foundational requirement that a trademark function as a trademark has received little attention in the case law. More recently, however, there has been an apparent uptick in scrutiny of trademark use by the USPTO and TTAB, as well as fresh academic attention paid to the issue.

Real estate syndication offerings often rely on Rule 506 of Regulation D to exempt such offerings from registration under the Securities Act. Rule 506 requires that, with certain limited exceptions, purchasers of the securities offered are limited to accredited investors. Amendments proposed by the SEC in December modify certain of the existing categories of accredited investors and create certain new categories.

The Supreme Court of New Jersey recently revisited an oft-contested issue in the area of premises liability: whether a commercial landlord owes a duty to its tenant's business invitees to maintain the premises, under a triple net lease, where the tenant is in exclusive possession of the demised premises.

Landlords often have clues that a tenant is going to be filing for bankruptcy, rental payments are consistently late several months in a row and the tenant falls more than a month behind on the rent. But, it can still be shocking when a landlord receives a legal notice in the mail, instead of a rent check.