Insights

Recent developments in California case law have strengthened the ability to enforce conditional or tiered payments in commercial contracts and leases.  

On June 29, 2020, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a challenge by several landlords to quash New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order 202.28 (the “Executive Order”), issued on May 7, 2020.  The Executive Order, among other things, imposed a moratorium on commercial and residential evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The court found that the eviction restrictions imposed by the Executive Order do not violate landlords' rights under federal law and that the court has no jurisdiction over state law questions they may raise.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has created myriad lease issues for commercial tenants who have closed stores, and are analyzing whether to abate rent during the closure.