Landlord & Tenant
Liquidated Damages Provision Not an Unenforceable Penalty<br>Occupant Established Succession Right Despite Absence of Sexual or Blood Relationship<br>Rent Stabilization Provision Lost When Tenant Executed Lease In Corporate Name<br>Predecessor Landlord Waived Prohibition on Subleases and Assignments
Anti-Forfeiture Statute Saves a Debtor's Exercise of Option to Renew Lease
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.
Landlord & Tenant
Guarantor May Not Interpose Wrongful Eviction Defense<br>Landlord Bound by Renewal Lease Signed After Judgment of Possession<br>Notice of Nonrewnal Sufficient to Withstand Jurisdictional Challenge<br>Incarcerated Son Not Entitled to Succession Rights<br>Occupant Did Not Establish Succession Rights<br>Court Dismisses Tortious Interference Claim By Holder of First Refusal Right
Goodbye 'Yellowstone' Road
<b><i>Is This The End of the 'Yellowstone' Doctrine?</b></i><p>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.
Case Notes
Slip-and-Fall Victim Cannot Recover from Landlord or Tenant
Right of Entry: Landlord Considerations
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.
Why Tenants Get Stuck in Bad Leases and How to Avoid It
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.
As It Turns Out, <i>Yellowstone</i> Waivers Are Enforceable
Four years ago, we explored whether a commercial tenant could waive its common law right to seek a <i>Yellowstone</i> 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 <i>159 MP Corp., v Redbridge Bedford, LLC</i> 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 …”
<i>Simon v. Starbucks</i>: Preliminary Injunction Granted to Prevent Store Closings
While the court will not have the opportunity to rule on the merits of the case, the facts relied upon by the Indiana Superior Court and the conclusions reached in rendering its decision are still instructive for practitioners drafting continuous-use provisions and advising clients on potential breaches or anticipatory breaches of such provisions.
