Extra protection for businesses with ban on evictions for commercial tenants who miss rent payments

Kerman & Co. website
March 24, 2020 Advisory

The Government have recently published an update on helping business tenants who miss rent payments because of coronavirus, the full article is here.

To summarise the key points:

  • The communication refers to tenants who are ‘unable’ to pay their rent. The implication is that there must be genuine and provable grounds (e.g. severe disruption to cash flow – and for many, the bar to that qualification must surely now have been lowered in light of enforced closure of all non essential retail outlets) in order to benefit from this concession. As such, it is likely that the application will be to those who can’t pay rather than those who simply won’t pay.
  • How this will translate into practicality is yet to be seen – for example, will it become simply unlawful for a landlord to instruct a bailiff to exercise peaceable re-entry in cases of rent arrears – remember, where pure commercial (i.e. there is no residential element) property is concerned, a landlord can exercise the ‘self-help’ remedy of peaceful re-entry – a court order for possession is not required.
  • Further clarity will also be required upon the position where, for example, landlords seek to circumvent the new law by issuing statutory demands  – as a threat of insolvency, rather than exercising the forfeiture provision in the lease. Given that the ethos of this new legislation is to support small businesses at a critical time and to give peace of mind to those struggling with cash flow, it is perhaps to be expected that the courts will frown upon any attempt to usurp the legislation and seek remedy by the back the door.

Further details and commentary will follow once the legislation has been framed and receives Royal Assent.

Originally published at Kermanco.com prior to the firm’s combination with Armstrong Teasdale in early 2021.

Contact Us
  • Worldwide
  • Boston, MA
  • Chicago, IL
  • Denver, CO
  • Dublin, Ireland
  • Edwardsville, IL
  • Jefferson City, MO
  • Kansas City, MO
  • Las Vegas, NV
  • London, England
  • Miami, FL
  • New York, NY
  • Orange County, CA
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Princeton, NJ
  • Salt Lake City, UT
  • St. Louis, MO
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Wilmington, DE
Worldwide
abstract image of world map
Boston, MA
800 Boylston St.
30th Floor
Boston, MA 02199
Google Maps
Boston, Massachusetts
Chicago, IL
100 North Riverside Plaza
Suite 1500
Chicago, IL 60606-1520
Google Maps
Chicago, Illinois
Denver, CO
4643 S. Ulster St.
Suite 800
Denver, CO 80237
Google Maps
Denver, Colorado
Dublin, Ireland
Fitzwilliam Hall, Fitzwilliam Place
Dublin 2, Ireland
Google Maps
Edwardsville, IL
115 N. Second St.
Edwardsville, IL 62025
Google Maps
Edwardsville, Illinois
Jefferson City, MO
101 E. High St.
First Floor
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Google Maps
Jefferson City, Missouri
Kansas City, MO
2345 Grand Blvd.
Suite 1500
Kansas City, MO 64108
Google Maps
Kansas City, Missouri
Las Vegas, NV
7160 Rafael Rivera Way
Suite 320
Las Vegas, NV 89113
Google Maps
Las Vegas, Nevada
London, England
Royal College of Surgeons of England
38-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
London, WC2A 3PE
Google Maps
Miami, FL
355 Alhambra Circle
Suite 1200
Coral Gables, FL 33134
Google Maps
Photo of Miami, Florida
New York, NY
7 Times Square, 44th Floor
New York, NY 10036
Google Maps
New York City skyline
Orange County, CA
19800 MacArthur Boulevard
Suite 300
Irvine, CA 92612
Google Maps
Philadelphia, PA
2005 Market Street
29th Floor, One Commerce Square
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Google Maps
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Princeton, NJ
100 Overlook Center
Second Floor
Princeton, NJ 08540
Google Maps
Princeton, New Jersey
Salt Lake City, UT
222 South Main St.
Suite 1830
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Google Maps
Salt Lake City, Utah
St. Louis, MO
7700 Forsyth Blvd.
Suite 1800
St. Louis, MO 63105
Google Maps
St. Louis, Missouri
Washington, D.C.
1717 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20006
Google Maps
Photo of Washington, D.C. with the Capitol in the foreground and Washington Monument in the background.
Wilmington, DE
1007 North Market Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
Google Maps
Wilmington, Delaware