On March 31, 2023, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York declared New York City’s Guaranty Bill unconstitutional, finding it violates the United States Constitution’s Contracts Clause. New York City landlords may now be able to seek previously unenforceable arrears from commercial lease guarantors owed from March 7, 2020 through
Real Estate Legal Update
Blog Authors
Latest from Real Estate Legal Update
Tomorrow’s Hospitality A-Z – Navigating the future
By Jimmy
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 transformed the global hospitality industry as governments imposed lockdowns in an attempt to stop the virus’s spread, which halted global travel and inhibited the vast majority of in-person events. This was an unprecedented challenge for the industry, which was required to quickly adapt and innovate in order…
Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022
By Brad Trerise
The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 received Royal Assent on 6th December 2022. This means greater balance towards landowners and telecoms operators along with supporting 5G and fibre network rollouts. However, there still needs to be more regulations to be passed for the provisions to become effective in 2023.
Closures on the High Street: time for rates reform?
Retail took a big hit in 2022 with 17,145 shops closing, a 50% increase on 2021. Large and small names alike were effected: Joules, M&Co and T M Lewin were hit hard, totalling 6,055 shop closures and 151,500 jobs lost. 1/3 of these closures were due to insolvency and the rest because of need to…
California: Parking reform goes into effect January 1
By Phillip H. Babich and Sara M. Eddy
Less parking and more housing, or just less parking?
Figuring out parking configurations for development projects in California will get a little easier for developers starting January 1, 2023. The state legislature has adopted Assembly Bill 2097 (AB 2097), and Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed it into…
Coronavirus Rental Arrears – A brief digest
By Brad Trerise
Brad Trerise has written a client alert on the recent appeal case made by several large cinema chains over the the payment of outstanding rent for periods of the Coronavirus pandemic, during which they were forced to close.
Key Take-aways:
- Cine UK, Cineworld and various other cinema firms appealed on the basis of a novel argument
…
The Economic Crime Act and Registration of Overseas Entities: the latest developments
Continuing on from our previous commentary on the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act (the ‘Act’), the new Register of Overseas Entities introduced by the Act (the ‘Register’) is now expected to be brought into effect on 1 August 2022. We must all be prepared for this new regime.
From the 1st August, overseas…
Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 – first arbitration award gives little comfort to retailers
We have recently seen what may be the first award made under the arbitration scheme established under the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022. Ernest Jones and H Samuel, jewellery retailers, has been ordered to pay £450,000 in unpaid office rent, where it had been argued that the offices, its headquarters, served purely to support its…
Will the Levelling-Up Bill really help the high street?
Tucked away in Part 8 of the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill is a provision that may alarm commercial landlords. This provides for local authorities to intervene in the normal commercial landlord and tenant relationship and agree lettings of vacant high-street premises through auction.
The Bill gives the local authority the right to act where high…
Reforming the Electronic Communications Code in 2022
By Brad Trerise
It was less than five years ago that the Electronic Communications Code (the Code) came into force, but plans for reform are already making headway, with the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill 2021-2022 set to become law later this year.
Some of the key changes to the Code introduced by the Bill include:
- Enabling
…