Articles by Glenn S. Demby

A few months into a lease, the landlord discovered that the tenant was advertising cannabidiol (CBD) and kratom for sale at the store and warned it to cease and desist or face immediate eviction. The tenant ignored the warning and began selling “Prohibited Products” as well, including bongs, pip...

A restaurant tenant signed a shopping center lease promising to pay monthly rent “on or before the first day of each month, without prior demand or notice.” On Feb. 1, 2023, with February rent unpaid, the landlord served the tenant a five-day notice to pay rent or quit the next day. The tenant d...

A business visitor who slipped on ice in the parking lot of a commercial building leased to Amazon sued the landlord for negligence in failing to ensure the lot was properly plowed. The defendant denied owing the visitor a duty of care because it leased the entire property to Amazon and thus didn’t have possession or control over the area where the accident occurred. The visitor disputed the claim, noting that the lease gave the landlord the right to reenter the propert...

Two recent cases shed light on how courts decide the issue.

A grocery store operator signed a lease allowing it to “install” its own electronic gatekeeper system to prevent people from stealing grocery carts. But it turned out that a previous tenant had already installed a gatekeeper system wire. Satisfied that the system worked well enough, the tenant decided to keep using it. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a restaurant tenant abandoned its lease with six years remaining on the term. The lease contained an acceleration clause giving the landlord the option, in the event of the tenant’s default, to declare “the total amount of rent payable during the Term of the Lease, ...