This case update from our Property, Chancery & Commercial team looks at the issues raised in the recent cases of Dhillion v Barclays Bank, Peter Singh Sangha v Amicus Finance, O v O and Others, and Duval v 11-13 Randolph Crescent.
When will the court refuse to grant rectification of the Land Register for mistake?
In Dhillon v Barclays Bank plc [2020] EWCA Civ 619, Mrs Dhillon sought rectification of the Land Register to remove a charge granted following a fraudulent transfer. The property was now worth over a million-pounds. The sum secured by the charge was over £600,000.
Historically, the interests of landlords whose commercial real estate is occupied by debtors in Chapter 11 proceedings have been generally well protected. Indeed, Section 365(d)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code requires the debtor to timely perform all of its post-petition obligations under its nonresidential leases of real property — most important among those, rent.
The Insolvency Service has released statistics on the level of insolvencies in April 2020. This allows us to take a look at the immediate effect of insolvencies post-lockdown compared with those before.
Statistics
This is part of our Commercial Real Estate Finance COVID-19 Impact Series, which is aimed at providing informed and real-time guidance tailored to various sectors of commercial real estate owners. In the context of recent bankruptcy filings by national shopping center tenants, this article examines the interplay between a tenant bankruptcy and a landlord’s obligations under its loan documents.
Businesses are facing unprecedented challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some businesses, the impact has been immediate such as in the travel and events industries where sales have come to a sudden halt. For many other client facing businesses, such as in the hospitality and retail industries, revenues have taken a sharp decline due to social distancing measures. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy are expected to continue well after the easing of restrictions and re-opening of various sectors of the economy.
The next article in our Commercial Real Estate Finance COVID-19 Impact Series looks at landlord/tenant issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of our Bankruptcy and Restructuring Practice Group, providing informed and real-time guidance tailored to various sectors of commercial real estate owners. In the context of recent bankruptcy filings by national shopping center tenants, this article highlights key areas for consideration when a tenant files bankruptcy and what steps landlords can take to be proactive in these circumstances.
In recent decisions involving accessories retailer Colette Group and Virgin airlines, the Federal Court of Australia found that the extraordinary circumstances of COVID-19 warrant a grant of relief for the administrators from personal liability for rent.
In both cases, the Court acknowledged the uncertainty caused by COVID-19 and found that the rent reprieve for the administrators was in the best interests of the creditors as a whole.
colette group
Potentially casting retail landlords against their debtor-tenants, a bankruptcy judge in the Eastern District of Virginia--an increasingly popular destination for major retail bankruptcy filings--allowed Pier 1 and its affiliates to effectively "shelter in place" while the majority of its stores remain closed across the country.
Legal Notice 192 of 2020 entitled Companies Act (Company Reconstructions Fund) Regulations, 2020 (the “Regulations”) has been published to create and regulate the administration of a fund known as the Company Recovery Fund (the “Fund”). This Fund is intended to facilitate company recovery procedures instituted in accordance with article 329B of the Companies Act (the “Act”).