Sutherland published a timely legal alert on what a landlord can do with a tenant allowance and tenant build-out obligations when a tenant goes bankrupt: Obtaining Relief From Tenant Allowance and Build-Out Obligations When a Tenant Files for Bankruptcy. The alert points out that lease provisions that allow the landlord to stop completion or funding [...]
In Boston Housing Authority v. Garcia (SJC-09753) (August 17, 2007), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court clarified the position after United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Department of Hous. & Urban Dev. v. Rucker, 535 U.S. 125, 130 (2002). Rucker provided that Federal housing law, 42 U.S.C. ยง 1437d (1)(6) (2000), “unambiguously” requires lease terms “that [...]
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court allowed a commercial landlord to enforce a liquidated damages clause against a tenant for non-payment of rent in Cummings Properties, LLC vs. National Communications Corporation (SJC Docket 09778. July 17, 2007). The tenant had argued that the liquidated damages clause was unenforceable under Commissioner of Insurance v. Massachusetts Acc Co., [...]