When the Coronavirus Act 2020 (the "Act") received royal assent on 25 March 2020, commercial tenants across the country were afforded some relief.
Landlord and tenant relationships are likely to come under strain as tenants experience financial difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For tenant companies such financial difficulties may result in a tenant being placed in examinership, or ultimately in the appointment of a liquidator or receiver. An insolvency event generally constitutes an event of default in a commercial lease.
At the end of March, the Government introduced measures providing a moratorium on evictions for commercial tenants for non-payment of rent until 30 June 2020.
The troubles possibly faced by WeWork, the shared office space company, were well documented long before the global impact of COVID-19 was felt. WeWork, unlike other shared office companies, tends to use a more inherently risky business model, taking long leases and carving them up into short-term flexible letting arrangements. Whilst some shared office companies take on geared leases, passing up a percentage of revenue, and thus sharing the risk and reward, WeWork are understood to have a larger holding of fixed rent leases.
Among the only certainties for the post-COVID lending world is the uncertainty of commercial real estate values. Among the classes of real estate that surely will be immediately diminished in value are hospitality and most brick and mortar retail, but even the value of industrial and office properties will be closely scrutinized as questions are posed regarding changes in how companies conduct their businesses and which types of businesses will recover most fully.
As the economic crisis brought on by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic deepens, commercial landlords would be wise to review the deposit language contained in their leases with their counsel. In particular, the wording of the rent deposit and security deposit provisions should be examined more closely and consideration given to who would be entitled to the deposit in the context of a tenant bankruptcy.
As April rent came due, we armed you with what New York landlords and property managers need to know to formulate their business strategy. (Click here to see Part 1.) Payment of rent on April 1 turned out to be a mixed bag, with some properties experiencing a high level of payment or partial payment and some not. Payment of May rent is expected to be worse than April.
In this Part 2, we update you as the pandemic continues.
On 15 April 2020, the Federal Court provided the Administrators of Colette with relief from personal liability with respect to the company’s lease obligations.
Colette entered administration in February 2020, prior to the Coronavirus pandemic in Australia. In early March 2020, Administrators noticed sales had begun to substantially decline which had resulted in the company operating at a loss. The decline in sales dropped even further following the Government’s announcements regarding social isolation measures.
Land and buildings Ships and aircraft Other tangible assets Liens Retention of title Intangible assets Personal security Debentures Form of debentures Assets covered by debentures Trust receipts or letters of hypothecation
Receivership
Appointment of a receiver Receivers' powers Receivers' obligations Termination of the receivership
Deacons contacts
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Types of security
1.Why use an electronic signature?
2.What is e-signing?
3.Is e-signing valid?
4.What types of document can be signed electronically?
5. Are there any restrictions/protocols relating to electronic signatures?
6. What is the position with overseas entities?
7. E-signing with a secure platform
8. E-signing without a secure platform
Why use an electronic signature?