Lease vs. License: Short-Term Property Use, Access and Exclusive Control, Termination, Remedies
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
- work Practice Area
Real Property - Transactions
- event Date
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
-
This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
Join our dynamic CLE webinar as our expert panel dives into the strategic use of licenses versus leases for short-term occupancy. Our panel will break down when a license is the ideal choice, the critical contract terms that must be included, and the powerful termination provisions and remedies available to licensors. The panel will also explore scenarios where a traditional lease might be the better option, even for short-term arrangements.
Consistently named among the leaders in commercial real estate, Ms. Abrams offers unparalleled expertise and a sought-after consultative approach. Throughout her career, she has worked with major retail brands and Fortune 500 companies. Ms. Abrams collaborates with retailers to develop strategic plans and to secure sites, as well as to mitigate for underperforming real estate. She also represents landlords and is the exclusive leasing agent for numerous marquee properties. Ms. Abrams is frequently enlisted by major media outlets and trade organizations for her expertise, she does extensive consulting work and provides expert testimony for litigation and arbitration cases.
Mr. Wright has handled many billboard, retail, office and commercial leases in the New York metropolitan area for over twenty years. He primarily represents property owners in outdoor advertising leases. Glenn lectures frequently on commercial leases and transactional matters. He also represents many businesses in real estate related litigation in State and Federal Courts and before local municipalities on permit and license applications.
Ms. Davis is an experienced transactional attorney and corporate generalist with over 25 years of experience providing focused and results-oriented counsel on corporate legal issues to companies, other entities, and individuals. Her experience includes billboard, office and commercial leases and licenses in the New York metropolitan area, as well as telecommunications equipment licensing. A significant portion of her practice focuses on representing the tenants in outdoor advertising leases.
Landlord attorneys have either overlooked or been too cautious to suggest the use of license agreements to their clients. Currently, real estate license agreements are utilized primarily by owners of properties licensed to short-term users: office space, laundry facilities, certain types of storage spaces, pop-ups, and kiosks in shopping malls. More firms are now adopting a "hybrid" model where employees divide their time between working remotely and in traditional office spaces.
This greater demand for part-time office space may result in an increased use of license agreements. Whether there is a market for real estate license agreements for other types of occupancy is not as apparent but given the landlords' need to be relieved of the frustrations of traditional landlord-tenant litigation, such an agreement may be useful for the right business plan.
A major benefit of the owner-licensor's rights in a license relationship is the right to revoke the license "at will" and to use "self-help" to remove a defaulting licensee from the licensed premises without having to endure months or years of lengthy and frustrating litigation to regain possession of valuable real estate. In contrast to the hostility of courts to allow traditional landlord's use of self-help, under a bona fide license agreement, the tenant-licensee owns no estate in the premises and has no right to possession. Common law principles apply, and the owner-licensor has the absolute right to use peaceable self-help at any time to remove a licensee from the licensed premises for any or no reason.
From the tenant's perspective, there are occasions when a lease would be preferred to the flexibility, but lack of security, of a license. Tenants seeking REIT qualified assets will negotiate for a lease. Though some tenants will enter into license agreements, the tenant will want to review termination rights in any written agreement to clarify how a licensor can exercise such rights.
Listen as our expert panel discusses the use of license agreements, the terms that must be part of such an agreement, and how termination and remedies are addressed.
- Real estate license vs. lease
- Use of real estate license
- Short-term use
- Alternatives
- License terms
- Termination
- At will
- Self-help
- Absolute control
- Permitted use
- Considerations for landlords
- Consideration for tenants
- Best practices
- Use of real estate license
The panel will address these and other relevant issues:
- What types of businesses might consider a real estate license instead of a lease?
- When should counsel recommend a license over a lease, and vice versa, to their clients? And what are best practices for advising landlords and tenants on selecting the right agreement to suit their business plans?
- What are essential contract terms that protect owners and provide flexibility in short-term occupancy arrangements?
- What termination rights and remedies are available under a license? How may self-help be used for immediate possession?
- What should tenants consider when choosing between a license and a lease?
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