Sophisticated real estate lenders spend significant amounts of time and energy attempting to insulate themselves from potential bankruptcy filings by their borrowers. A primary reason, which many an experienced real estate lender has found out the hard way, is the risk that a debtor in bankruptcy may “cram down” a plan of reorganization over its lender’s objection. Under a typical cramdown plan, a debtor may stretch out payments to its secured creditor for several years and attempt to replace its negotiated interest rate with a new, below- market rate of interest.

The Nutter Bank Report is a monthly electronic publication of the firm’s Banking and Financial Services Group and contains regulatory and legal updates with expert commentary from our banking attorneys.

The approval by Colorado voters of medical marijuana in 2000, and recreational marijuana in 2012, has created a burgeoning legal marijuana industry in our state.  Not only have marijuana growing operations and dispensaries flourished, but they have provided new leasing opportunities for landlords.

When a retail business becomes a debtor in bankruptcy, it often decides to trim its operations by closing some of its retail stores. This strategy inevitably leaves the debtor with unnecessary leases. Instead of simply rejecting the leases, retail debtors often assume the agreements and assign them to other entities. The assumption and assignment of the unnecessary leases may allow a debtor to avoid potentially significant rejection damage claims from landlords.

The Fourth Circuit, on June 15, 2007, affirmed the dismissal of a Chapter 11 reorganization petition filed by a tenant debtor in a commercial lease dispute. Maryland Port Administration v. Premier Automotive Services, Incorporated (In re Premier Automotive Services, Incorporated), ___ F.3d ___, 2007 WL 1721951 (4th Cir. 6/15/07).

Is a landlord’s ability to recover repair costs chargeable to the lessee limited because such repair costs are included in “damages resulting from the termination of a lease of real property” pursuant to section 502(b)(6) of the Bankruptcy Code? In In re Foamex International, Inc., 2007 WL 1461954 (Bankr. D. Del. May 16, 2007), the bankruptcy judge said “Yes.”

In re Foamex Int’l, Inc., et al.,1 the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware held that the damage cap contained in section 502(b)(6) of the Bankruptcy Code applies not only to rental payments, but also to damages from the breach of any lease covenants, including maintenance and repair obligations. In doing so, the Court reduced a specific landlord’s claim and recovery by more than $700,000 and established precedent that could diminish the claims of landlords in other cases pending and filed in Delaware.

Background

Saddleback Valley Community Church v. El Toro Materials Company, Inc. 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 22991 (October 1, 2007) Client Alert

In a decision that should provide comfort to landlords confronting insolvent tenants, the Ninth Circuit recently ruled that the Bankruptcy Code’s limitation on the amount of damages a landlord is entitled to recover upon termination of a lease does not limit the landlord’s right to recover damages which are not based upon the loss of future rental income.

The Bankruptcy Code limits the amount a landlord may recover from a bankrupt tenant for damages caused by the termination of a lease of real property. But what if the tenant trashes the landlord's property before turning over the premises? Does the damage limitation apply to the landlord's claim for the cost of cleaning up the mess?

A federal court in California recently has thrown its weight behind a majority rule that holds that letter of credit proceeds should be applied to damages resulting from the rejection of a lease of non-residential real property. In re Connectix Corp., No. 05-556848, 2007 WL 2137802 (Bankr. N.D. Cal. May 10, 2007). The court also addressed the formula the parties should employ to arrive at a damages figure.