Drake Goodman and Patty Palmer lease a studio apartment to Carter Haynes. But Haynes has not paid rent since last May, when the shelter-in-place orders caused his fledging restaurant to go out of business. While sympathetic to Haynes’s plight, the loss of rental income has severely damaged Goodman and Palmer’s own finances, and they are growing increasingly desperate. Can they evict Hayes? Should they?
Continue Reading CDC’s Eviction Moratorium: Legal Limbo for Landlords and Tenants
Stay Shut Down or Be Sued? The Risk to Your Business from COVID-19 Premises-Liability Claims
Reeling from months of governmental orders that required all restaurants to close their doors, Chez Quis was elated to re-open and welcome back its diners, even at a reduced capacity. But elation quickly turned to despair when Chez Quis learned that one of its longtime customers, Abe Froman, had sued the restaurant for allegedly contracting the coronavirus (COVID-19) while dining there. Has Chez Quis jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire?
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Can an Email Exchange Modify a Lease?
Before the pandemic, Ernest Bux’s niece Chit Bux signed a lease with Iona Mall in an upscale strip shopping center and hired a contractor to build out her dream business – a beauty salon “Cuts & Fluffs.” When Dallas County ordered businesses to shutter last spring, Chit’s “essential business” construction on her salon continued toward meeting the originally scheduled July 1st opening date – perhaps the worst time to open a high-touch, close-quarters beauty salon. Having dealt with other unsuccessful startups in that same space, Iona needed Cuts & Fluffs to succeed; Chit needed a different opening date – much later when people were less fearful of crowds. Chit called Iona, her contractor and her banker who was shepherding her SBA loan. Can Chit work something out with Iona without completely modifying her lease?
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Tiger King 2.0: Is a Texas Roadside Zoo Permissible?
Driving through Oklahoma recently and watching Tiger King of late, Ernest “Big Daddy” Bux was intrigued that they are apparently 5,000 to 15,000 tigers in the United States and only 3,500 in the “wild.” Hearing that an 8-12 week old cub offered for “cub petting” in a roadside petting “zoo” could pay back over $1 million, Big Daddy decided that his Big Bux Ranch was big enough to add a roadside business and raise pet tigers. Does the State of Texas permit Big Daddy to keep pet tigers? Does Big Daddy have any liability for keeping them?
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Can COVID-19 Trigger a Force Majeure Defense?
Wanting to diversify his investments, Ernest “Big Daddy” Bux signed a franchise agreement with GA Fitness last year. Construction by Big Daddy’s contractor Bill Toosuit is scheduled to be completed for in time for an early May grand opening in the new strip center owned and managed by Mawl & Mawl. Last week, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the town’s mayor and the state governor prohibited any gathering of more than 10 people and directed that all bars, restaurants and gymnasiums close. Now that gymnasiums are prohibited from opening, Big Daddy’s business is almost certain to fail, and Mawl & Mawl loses a tenant. If Big Daddy stops construction and buys out his current lease obligation, Bill Toosuit loses his construction project and Mawl & Mawl loses a long-term tenant. Can Big Daddy get out of his lease obligations? And his construction contract? Are there other options to get to a win-win?
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Can COVID-19 Make a Contract Impossible to Perform?
Wanting to diversify his investments, Ernest “Big Daddy” Bux signed a franchise agreement with GA Fitness last year. Construction by Big Daddy’s contractor Bill Toosuit is scheduled to be completed for in time for an early May grand opening in the new strip center owned and managed by Mawl & Mawl. Last week, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the town’s mayor and the state governor prohibited any gathering of more than 10 people and directed that all bars, restaurants and gymnasiums close. Now that gymnasiums are prohibited from opening, Big Daddy’s business is almost certain to fail, and Mawl & Mawl loses a tenant. If Big Daddy stops construction and buys out his current lease obligation, Bill Toosuit loses his construction project and Mawl & Mawl loses a long-term tenant. Can Big Daddy get out of his lease obligations? And his construction contract? Are there other options to get to a win-win?
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Can an Email Exchange Bind a Real Estate Sale?
Sometime ago Ernest “Big Daddy” Bux conveyed a pipeline easement to Nodding Donkey Pipelines for the construction, operation and maintenance of a 24-inch pipeline across his Big Bux Ranch. In an email sent before Christmas, Lannie Landman with Nodding Donkey requested an easement for a second pipeline on the North side of the existing line.
Risky Business: Using a DBA or Trade Name in Corporate Contracts
Frasier and Niles fulfill a lifelong dream by purchasing a treasured but faded restaurant through their company, Crane Brothers, LLC. They rechristen their restaurant as “Les Freres Heureux” and file an assumed name certificate registering that name. Frasier also signs multiple contracts to renovate the building and purchase food, beverages, and furniture in the following manner: “Les Freres Heureux by its president, Frasier Crane.” Unfortunately, opening night is a disaster, and the restaurant quickly closes its doors. Frasier and Niles put Crane Brothers, LLC into bankruptcy, so unpaid vendors begin suing Frasier, arguing that he is personally liable for the contracts he signed. Is Frasier in the soup?
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Can your Company be Protected from the Risk of an “Unfit to Work” Partner?
The President of First Bank of Buxboro Ernest “Big Daddy” Bux is growing older, and he’s showing it. Despite tightening bank regulations on lending and credit documentation, Big Daddy seems to be getting even more lax. Moreover, just last week – during important loan renewal negotiations with the Bank’s largest customer – Big Daddy could not remember the name of the company or the name of its principal. Do the directors of First State Bank owe any legal responsibility to the FDIC as the insurer? Do the Bank directors have any legal responsibilities to the Bank? What about Big Daddy, personally, does he have rights?
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Amazon Packages Bursting into Open Fires, Jack Frost Nipping at Your Nose…
On December 26, Marty and Dave McFly were playing video games when, downstairs in the living room, the hoverboard that Marty had received for Christmas ignited. The fire quickly engulfed the Christmas tree and spread throughout the house. Marty and Dave escaped with minor injuries, but their house was destroyed. Since the McFlys had bought the hoverboard from Amazon.com, they sued the company, alleging that it sold them a defective product and failed to warn them that it was unsafe. Amazon, however, argues that it is not responsible because it did not manufacture or even sell the hoverboard. Instead, it merely set up a marketplace by which a third-party Chinese manufacturer sold the hoverboard. Is the McFlys’ lawsuit up in smoke?
Continue Reading Amazon Packages Bursting into Open Fires, Jack Frost Nipping at Your Nose…