In my last post about shared ownership of cottages, I discussed items to consider when deciding whether to create a plan for future generations to share the ownership and use of the family cottage or vacation property. Once...more
In my last post, “Real Estate Alphabet Soup: T is for Tenancy” I continued my primer on the “alphabet soup” of real estate. This post continues to stir the “alphabet soup” with the letter “U.”...more
After a foreclosure sale by a senior creditor, California’s Civil Code section 2924k governs how the sale proceeds are applied in the following order of priority...more
Co-Tenancy clauses have historically been included mainly in leases for mall and shopping center tenants (i.e., retail centers with big-box tenants, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods). While the landscape for retail shopping...more
The retail industry has experienced an unprecedented and immediate shift as a result of the economic fallout from COVID-19. One of the most apparent changes is evident when handling commercial retail leasing; read on to...more
When a commercial tenant leases space in a shopping center or mall, a primary consideration for the tenant is the expected benefit to their business of the foot traffic from the customers that will be attracted to the other...more
On Thursday evening, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-33-20 in response to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, requiring all residents in the state to stay home or at their place of residence, except as...more
Summary of H.B. 4268 - At its core, the Cotenancy Modernization and Majority Protection Act ("Act") is a revision to the relationship between cotenants owning "oil or natural gas and their constituents." The Act is...more
Shopping centers are not dying. The retail landscape is changing, however, and so too are shopping centers. Retail stores have been closing at a breakneck pace, and Wall Street seems to think the worst is yet to come....more
The Tennessee Supreme Court recently ruled that “a joint tenancy with an express right of survivorship can be severed by the unilateral actions of one of the co-tenants.” Darryl F. Bryant, Sr. v. Darryl F. Bryant, Jr., No....more
In the recent case of The Bank of NY Mellon v. Ashley, et al., 119 AFTR 2d 2017-1207 (D.C. Md. 2017), the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland held that, where taxpayer-husband alone executed a deed of trust in...more
Under California law, a provision of a contract found to impose a penalty is unenforceable as a forfeiture and contrary to public policy. The characteristic feature of a penalty is the lack of proportional relation between...more
In Franchise & High Properties, LLC v. Happy’s Franchise, LLC, a 2015 decision issued by the Court of Appeals in Michigan, the franchisor, Happy’s Pizza Franchise, LLC, signed a five-year lease for the commercial space to be...more