Landlords that lease commercial property in Seattle need to be aware of major changes to the Municipal Code. Seattle recently enacted Ordinance 126982, which introduces significant regulations for commercial property lessors...more
Following years of bolstering residential tenant protections, Ordinance 126982 marks one of the City of Seattle's first major forays into policing the commercial landlord-tenant relationship. The ordinance, which went into...more
In the last month of the most progressive Seattle City Council term in recent history, the Council passed an ordinance restricting a landlord’s right to use certain security measures for commercial leases in the City....more
Recently, two significant distressed companies with thousands of commercial leases, Rite Aid Corp. and WeWork Inc., each filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, seeking in part to rationalize their geographic footprints through...more
In light of the recent turmoil in the banking market, it is a good time for landlords to do some spring cleaning and review any letters of credit being held as lease security. As a general rule, letters of credit have been...more
This past Friday, March 10, 2023, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) announced its takeover of the failed Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) after a run on the bank late last week caused the largest-scale U.S. bank failure...more
The impact of the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation taking possession of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and appointing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver for SVB is receiving thorough...more
Last month, Judge Caproni of the Southern District of New York issued a ruling stating that if a commercial lease does not require a landlord to hold a security deposit in trust and if there is no state statute generally...more
If you are a new or emerging business owner beginning the process of finding a suitable property to lease, it is important to be critical of the lease provided by the landlord. You should also attempt to negotiate each...more
The retail industry has experienced an unprecedented and immediate shift as a result of the economic fallout from COVID-19. One of the most apparent changes is evident when handling commercial retail leasing; read on to...more
What are the bankruptcy implications of the treatment of a tenant’s security deposit following a payment default? Many non-residential tenants are now or are likely in the future to be unable to pay rent and landlords will...more
In the wake of government-ordered moratoriums on commercial tenant evictions, how does a California commercial tenant’s security deposit come into play as an available landlord remedy for a lease default? Commercial lease...more
Many commercial tenants failed to pay April rent. Landlords may be thinking about applying security deposits or drawing down on letters of credit to cover tenants’ defaults....more
The Covid-19 pandemic has shut down most of the economy and retailers are among the businesses that could be closed for months. Even when they reopen, they will have suffered devastating losses of revenue. For most of...more
Business disruption seems to have become the new norm in Hong Kong in the last 12 months or so. The first quarter of 2019 was dominated by news of a regional slowdown caused by the US/China Trade War. The second half of the...more
Prepaid rent or a security deposit? The distinction is an important and potentially costly one for landlords in the current economic climate. In 2015, the Alberta Court of Appeal in York Realty Inc. v Alignvest Private Debt...more
An important provision of an office lease is the security deposit provision. While it is beneficial to a landlord to maximize the size of the security deposit it receives from a tenant in order to ensure the tenant’s faithful...more