Commercial leases sometimes contain an option allowing the tenant to purchase the property. If the option is properly exercised, an enforceable purchase and sale obligation is created, which can be enforced by the courts...more
A commercial lease co-tenancy clause conditions a retail tenant’s opening for business or continuing operations at the designated property upon another tenant opening for business or continuing operations at the same...more
As a litigator, whenever I am presented with a new contract dispute, one of the first things that I do is check whether the contract contains an arbitration clause or attorney fee clause. More consistently than any others,...more
Commercial leases often contain attorney fee provisions allowing a party who prevails in litigation to recover attorney fees from the losing party.
Can those attorney fee provisions apply to third parties — outsiders to...more
In the world of eminent domain, compensation for “lost goodwill” is often a tricky and contentious issue. New opinions from the Court of Appeal addressing goodwill tend to get a lot of attention....more
Foreclosure can often have tricky impacts on lease rights... See Eviction After Foreclosure: California Supreme Court Weighs In and When a Lender Forecloses on a Leasehold Interest….
An opinion recently published by...more
10/28/2019
/ Appeals ,
Assignments ,
Breach of Contract ,
Commercial Leases ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Foreclosure ,
Fraud ,
General Partner ,
Joint and Several Liability ,
Judgment Debtors ,
Landlords ,
Limited Liability Partnerships ,
Money Judgment ,
Motion to Amend ,
Parking Lots ,
Reversal ,
Shopping Centers ,
Termination of Rights ,
Third-Party Beneficiaries
Sister blog The LLC Jungle recently posted about an opinion from California’s Sixth District Court of Appeal — Orozco v. WPV San Jose, LLC — describing the legal difference between an LLC tenant, and the LLC’s owner who...more
9/26/2019
/ Appeals ,
Commercial Leases ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Damages ,
Fraud ,
Fraudulent Inducement ,
Guarantors ,
Landlords ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Remedies ,
Rescission ,
Reversal ,
Separate Entity Rule
A limited liability company (LLC) is a popular form of business entity. One of the main reasons for forming any business entity is to limit liability. In general, without a showing of “alter ego” liability, a business owner...more
9/18/2019
/ Appeals ,
Business Ownership ,
Commercial Leases ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Damages ,
Fraud ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Landlords ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Remedies ,
Rescission ,
Reversal ,
Trial Court Orders
In California, a holdover tenant (a tenant who remains in possession after the expiration of the written lease) has fewer rights than a tenant operating under a lease....more
3/27/2019
/ Appeals ,
Commercial Leases ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Contract Terms ,
Demurrers ,
Dismissals ,
Expiration Date ,
Holdover Occupants ,
Landlords ,
Reaffirmation ,
Right of First Refusal ,
Third-Party ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
General liability insurance policies normally cover “property damage.” Physical injury to, or outright destruction of, property almost always fits within policy coverage.
But what about situations when the property is not...more
2/11/2019
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Commercial Leases ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Conditional Use Permit ,
Default Judgment ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Diminution in Value ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Landlords ,
Loss of Use ,
Negligence ,
Nightclubs ,
Property Damage ,
Reversal ,
Revocation ,
Security Guards ,
Shootings ,
Summary Judgment ,
Zoning Laws
In reviewing notable guaranty cases from 2017 while preparing this year’s updates and edits for CEB’s top-notch treatise, California Mortgages, Deeds of Trust, and Foreclosure Litigation, we came across an opinion that...more
9/7/2018
/ Appeals ,
Board of Directors ,
Commercial Leases ,
Contribution Claims ,
Conversion ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Dismissals ,
Guarantors ,
Joint and Several Liability ,
Landlords ,
Levy ,
Proportionality ,
Release of Liability ,
Reversal ,
Shareholders ,
Sheriffs Sale
When a commercial lease tenant experiences the joy of a sewer line backup, which causes raw sewage to flow from all of the sinks on the premises and contaminates the tenant’s business equipment, it is not shocking for the...more
8/24/2018
/ Appeals ,
Commercial Leases ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Damages ,
Eviction ,
Holdover Occupants ,
Landlords ,
Property Damage ,
Reaffirmation ,
Sewer Systems ,
Summary Judgment ,
Unlawful Detainer