BarbriSFCourseDetails

Course Details

This CLE course will guide landlord counsel in handling the critical legal issues that arise before and after a tenant files for bankruptcy. The panel will outline strategies for commercial landlords to protect their interests and maximize recovery under state law and the Bankruptcy Code.

Faculty

Description

The distressed commercial real estate market coupled with uncertain general economic conditions means that commercial landlords must prepare now to cope with past due rents and soaring vacancies and seek ways to protect their financial interests.

The Bankruptcy Code offers protection to both landlords and tenants but raises several complex legal issues. The tenant's primary concern is the assumption or rejection of the lease under Chapter 11. However, legal advisers must carefully consider the timing and implications of such decisions (including locations impacted).

There are strategies available to the landlord that can minimize losses before or after a bankruptcy filing. They may include negotiating a rent abatement or other modification of the lease or participating in the creditor's committee in bankruptcy. It may also have setoff rights concerning deposits held under the lease.

Listen as our authoritative panel of real estate and bankruptcy attorneys highlights critical legal issues that arise for landlords before and after a tenant files for bankruptcy. The panel will offer their perspectives on best practices for commercial landlords to protect their interests and maximize recovery under state law and the Bankruptcy Code.

Outline

  1. Commercial tenant bankruptcies: current trends
  2. Legal issues arising when a commercial tenant files for bankruptcy
    1. Automatic stay
    2. Ipso facto clauses
    3. Assumption or rejection of a lease
    4. Anti-assignment lease provisions
    5. Post-petition performance
    6. Proofs of claim
  3. Best practices for mitigating the risk of loss
    1. Pre-petition rent relief, repossession, or termination of the lease
    2. Enforce rights to receive current rent before bankruptcy or to compel post-petition rent payment or obtain relief from stay to repossess premises
    3. Security deposit setoffs and draws on letters of credit
    4. Get appointed to creditors' committee
    5. Strategies when negotiating a lease

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key questions:

  • What trends are developing in commercial tenant leases as a result of current market conditions?
  • What provisions should landlords consider in negotiating and drafting leases or lease modifications to protect against potential losses due to tenant bankruptcy?
  • What rights does the Bankruptcy Code give commercial landlords and tenants?
  • What are the best and most cost-effective practices for a commercial landlord to pursue when a tenant files for bankruptcy protection?