How Much Insurance Coverage Does The Tenant Have For Damage To Its Leased Premises?

Print

There are general categories of “insurance.” One is “life and health.” The one we care about is property and casualty,” the industry shorthand for which is: “P&C.” For those of us in this business, the “P” means commercial property insurance. That makes the relevant insurance “commercial general property” insurance. Let’s use that name.

For our purposes, the “C” mainly means “liability” insurance, and that makes the relevant insurance “commercial general liability” coverage. That’s what “CGL” stands for. The “C” in this case stands for “Commercial,” not for any of those other words some of our colleagues insist on using despite your efforts to correct their error.

Most insureds, especially large insureds, will carry both a CGL policy and a commercial property insurance policy. In almost all, but not all, cases, each policy form will consist of the ones promulgated by the Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) modified by multiple endorsement forms (also by the ISO), most of which limit (reduce) the promised coverage.

A meaningful number of small businesses, especially in industries with unique needs, will have “package” policies that combine the “P” and “C” in the same policy. For example, auto repair businesses are exposed to business-related risks associated with taking custody of property owned by others (i.e., property under their care, custody, and control). In addition, garage owners drive customer’s (expensive) cars and are expected to look to their own insurance, and not their customers’ insurance, in the case of an accident. “Package” or “Program” policies are not written on ISO forms. Each insurance company writes its own form, sometimes paralleling ISO language, but there is no guaranty of that. If you are at a small law firm, take a look to see if you have a combined policy. It might be labeled a “Businessowners Policy” or a “BOP.” [Read more…]

Print

When Does A Holdover (“Sufferance”) Tenancy Begin?

Print

The most popular Ruminations blog posting, by far, is the one dealing with holdover tenancies [It can be seen by clicking HERE.] We write, “holdover tenancies” only because that is how people speak about tenants who remain in the leased premises after their right to stay there has ended. Yes, they are some kind of “tenant,” but Ruminations sees them as trespassers, someone who is on another’s land without permission.

Today, we are going to work with a 2014 unpublished decision from the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Supreme Court. It can be seen by clicking HERE. The case covers a couple of interesting points beyond that of “holdover,” and we’ll try to discuss those as well. So, expect to read about oral leases and license agreements as well as about “holdover.” We’ll begin with this court’s comments about holdover tenancies, more accurately called “tenancies at sufferance.” Here they are: [Read more…]

Print

Be Reasonable, Whatever That Means

Print

Why is it reasonable to Ruminations to have steered clear of the “reasonableness” issue, i.e., what does “reasonable” mean? Despite having posted more than 280 times on similar issues, we’ve avoided this question. That’s because, like pornography, we think that when it comes to “what qualifies as ‘reasonable’,” you’ll know it when you see it. [Thanks to Justice Potter Stewart for his concurrence in Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (1964), where he wrote the following explanation of pornography: “But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that.”]

We think one has to “see” the circumstances to get a “feel” as to what would constitute a reasonable denial of consent The Alabama Civil Court of Appeals gave us such an opportunity with its August 12, 2016 Opinion in Steve Evans v. W.G. Waldrop, an Opinion that can be seen by clicking: HERE.

There are a number of “main” lessons coming out of this Court’s Opinion and there are some interesting side issues. So, we’ll start with a short version of the story. Our reading of the Opinion shows (to us, at least) that the case was not well presented at trial. Therefore, our telling of the story will “bridge” some gaps and “resolve” some discrepancies in the testimony and in the evidence presented.

A retail tenant with a shopping center lease that ran from April of 1999 until March of 2004 stopped paying its rent in May of 2000 and moved out the next month. Then, it began looking for an assignee or subtenant. After some disappointments, it located someone interested in operating an “electronic-bingo parlor” at the leased premises. [Read more…]

Print

“Another Similar Major Tenant” – What Did You Say? A Co-Tenancy Failure Saga

Print

Last week, we described, in some detail, a long story about a tenant seeking the benefit of a continuing co-tenancy provision in its lease and its landlord’s less than favorable response. We’re not going to repeat the “long story” this week. If you want to read it (to catch up, and you should), just click: HERE. Today, readers get the “short” version.

A shoe store’s lease gave it the right to pay reduced rent and even to terminate its lease if either of two particular businesses at the property vacated and were not timely replaced by “another similar major tenant.” The dispute, which was narrowed by a United District Court, but not resolved to conclusion, was whether a particular bible book store that replaced one of the designated “co-tenants,” a women’s fashion retailer, satisfied the criterion of being “another similar major tenant.” There were also issues of whether the shoe store’s long delay in “complaining” would adversely affect the specific remedies the tenant got under its lease.

The bible book store was long established in the marketplace and had relocated from a nearby location into the entire space occupied by the fashion retailer. Its sales in that same space exceeded those of the fashion retailer it replaced. [Read more…]

Print

Landlords (Tenants), You Lie In Wait At Your Own Risk

Print

We came across a recent Texas Court of Appeals Memorandum Decision validating a “double rent” holdover lease provision. It held that the “doubling” was a contractually agreed-upon rent, and not an unenforceable penalty as the tenant had argued. If the light from this candle we’re using tonight holds up, we’ll return to that central holding of the case.

The nice thing about the court’s June 28, 2013 opinion in Khan v. Meknojiya, 03-11-00580-CV (Tex. Ct. App. 3rd Dist. 2013) [a copy of which can be seen by clicking HERE], is that the facts aren’t very explicit. Why, then, do we say “the nice thing”? That’s because it allows us to make them up. And, when we do so, you can’t say we’ve gotten them wrong because, by definition, they are right. Nonetheless, we’ll try to stick our own “story” inside what you’d see in the court’s opinion if you were to look at it. [Read more…]

Print

Can You Waive Your Right To Waive Your Rights In A Lease Or Other Contract?

Print

Last week, in dissecting the most commonly found style of lease audit clause, and not so favorably at that, we necessarily dragged in what a particular court thought about a landlord’s argument that its tenant had “waived” its right to get a refund of moneys already paid. To refresh your memory, and to implant a new memory into those who haven’t yet read last week’s posting, Ruminations postulated that lease audit clauses, as commonly written, are thought to result in outcomes that never come out. That’s even truer for “no-waiver” clauses in leases and other contracts and even for the defense of “waiver” built into the law. [Read more…]

Print

What’s The Story Behind Indemnification Clauses?

Print

In our last posting, we described the tort (or common law) exposure that a landlord might have. We did that because most readers understand that when a party breaches an agreement, it may be liable to the other parties. On the other hand, many readers only have a sketchy idea about the kinds of liability a party can have “just by being out there.”

This time, Ruminations will muse about indemnification, waiver, and release provisions in our leases, sales contracts, and other agreements. [Read more…]

Print

What is a Waiver of Subrogation Anyway?

Print

Does anyone else share the impression that in the more than occasional discussions between negotiators about the ubiquitous “Waiver of Subrogation” provision, one or the other should be asking himself or herself – “What is a Waiver of Subrogation Anyway?” This isn’t an issue limited to Leases or even to Retail Real Estate Law or even to real estate law. Negotiations take place about Subrogation Waivers all the time, and yet there is a feeling that some people are arguing about these provisions and don’t even know what they are. [Read more…]

Print