A number of decisions were handed down on the impact of the Pandemic on commercial leases.

New York City has enacted Local Law No. 55-2020, adding Administrative Code Section 22-1005 (“Personal liability provisions in commercial leases”), also known as the “Guaranty Law.” The Guaranty Law provides, in part, the following:

In Atlas MF Mezzanine Borrower, LLC v. Macquarie Texas Loan Holder LLC, 2019 NY Slip Op 04495, decided June 6, 2019, the Appellate Division, First Department, dismissed causes of action seeking an Order overturning a mezzanine loan foreclosure sale, on grounds including claims that the lender breached the duty of good faith and fair dealing by...

In a decision dated November 25, 2020, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York upheld the validity of three local laws enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Local Laws are the “Residential harassment law” (Local Law 56-2020, amending Admin. Code Section 27-2004(a)(48)); the “Commercial harassment law”...

A lease between the Plaintiff, as landlord, and the Defendant, as tenant, was terminated. Under the Settlement Agreement the Defendant paid the Plaintiff $261,751.73. The Agreement also required the Defendant to make monthly “Surrender Payments” and further provided that if the Defendant defaulted under the Agreement “the aggregate amount of...

On December 15, 2020, New York State amended Title 15 (“Statutory short form and other powers of attorney for financial and estate planning”) of Article 5 of New York State’s General Obligations Law. Chapter  323  of the Laws of 2020 is effective on “the 180^th day after it shall have become a law, provided, that any statutory short form power...

A lease to a part of certain property granted the tenant an “option to buy”. Notwithstanding this provision, and a “first option to buy” granted by the lease to a person not a party to this action, the fee owner - lessor’s sole shareholder sold her shares to one of the Defendants.