lease Archives

Nov 2, 2020

Yellowstone Proceedings and the Pandemic: Do COVID-19 Mandates Frustrate Performance?

The legal press is rife with articles and speculation about the defenses of impossibility and/or frustration of performance to lease defaults triggered by state and local mandates prohibiting or limiting access to businesses. A decision released last week addressed that issue. Rame, LLC leased space at 200 Park Avenue from Metropolitan Realty Mgt., Inc. In September 2020, Metropolitan sent Rame a notice of default, alleging that it owed unpaid rent from December 1, 2017 through September 1, 2020 in the amount of $1,863,821.70, and set a deadline of on or before September 14, 2020 to cure the default. Rame sought… Read more

Nov 11, 2019

Finance Leases, Operating Leases and Hybrids: GAAP and Tax Considerations

Over the past few years, there have been several recent changes in GAAP and tax rules that impact the treatment of leases. With some of these changes going into effect in 2020, it is an opportune time to review the cumulative effect of these changes. Caveat – The following discussion is intended to survey only tax and accounting aspects of leases, not the rules that would apply to determine ownership and title under state law, remedies, UCC issues, and the like. Those rules use tests that are often different from the tax and accounting standards and add additional complexity. Finance… Read more

Aug 23, 2006

Interest on Unpaid Maintenance and Common Charges

Most cooperative proprietary leases and condominium by-laws permit the board to charge interest on unpaid maintenance or common charges and set forth a fixed percentage or amount for the interest. Some leases and by-laws, including the forms recommended by our firm to its clients, provide authority to the board to set and change the interest rate or late fees from time-to-time. However, where the by-laws or lease set a fixed interest rate or formula, it is important that the interest actually charged by the board and managing agent complies with the terms of the lease and by-laws. The amount of… Read more

May 21, 2003

“Objectionable” Shareholders

This memorandum was initially issued by the cooperative/condominium practice group of Balber Pickard Maldonado & Van Der Tuin, PC which joined Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP on February 1, 2017 and now practices as part of SGR’s cooperative/condominium practice group. We are pleased to report that the New York Court of Appeals in 40 West 67th Street Corp. v. Pullman unanimously affirmed the decision our firm obtained last May from an intermediate appellate court. As you may recall, in that decision, a divided court upheld a cooperative’s right to terminate a shareholder’s proprietary lease on account of “objectionable” conduct. This… Read more