Commercial Lease Disputes
Practical guidance and strong advocacy in lease disputes.
We represent landlords, tenants, guarantors, and business owners in commercial lease disputes across New York and New Jersey. These cases often move fast and can directly affect possession, rent exposure, and business survival.
A lease dispute is rarely just about one missed payment. It can involve notices, defaults, cure rights, guaranties, additional rent, renewal rights, holdover exposure, and the risk of losing leverage by saying or doing the wrong thing too early. We focus on the lease language, the notice history, and the practical business objective from day one.
Your Rights in a Commercial Lease Dispute
Commercial lease rights usually turn on the exact lease terms, riders, guaranties, and notice provisions. Whether you are enforcing the lease or defending against default claims, the first questions are usually: What does the lease actually require, what notices were given, and what happened next?
Landlords may have the right to seek rent, additional rent, possession, use-and-occupancy, holdover damages, repair costs, or enforcement of guaranties. Tenants may have defenses based on defective notices, waiver, course of dealing, landlord breaches, improper charges, surrender issues, or disputes over what the lease truly required
Common Commercial Lease Disputes
- Nonpayment of rent or additional rent
- Lease default notices and cure disputes
- Holdover cases
- Personal guaranty enforcement
- Common area maintenance (common area maintenance charges) and extra-charge disputes
- Repair and maintenance responsibility disputes
- Renewal option and notice disputes
- Security deposit disputes
- Surrender, vacancy, and re-entry disputes
- Assignment and sublease disputes
- Business sale disputes tied to lease consent or transfer
Lease Analysis
Commercial lease cases are won or lost on details. We review the base lease, riders, amendments, guaranties, estoppel certificates, payment ledger, notice history, and communications between the parties.
Litigation and Negotiation Strategy
Some cases call for immediate court action. Others are better resolved through fast negotiation once the other side sees the lease language and the weaknesses in their position.
Landlord and Tenant Representation
We represent both landlords and tenants. For landlords, the focus is often enforcement, rent recovery, possession, and guaranty strategy. For tenants, the focus is often preserving the business, challenging defective notices or inflated charges, negotiating an exit, or limiting downstream liability.
Service Area
Serving commercial clients in New York City and nearby counties in New York and New Jersey.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How can a landlord enforce a commercial lease after a tenant default?
The answer depends on the lease, the type of default, and what notices were served. A landlord may be able to pursue rent, additional rent, possession, guaranty enforcement, or other lease remedies.
What is additional rent?
It is rent defined by the lease beyond base rent, often including taxes, maintenance charges, legal fees, repairs, or other amounts labeled as rent.
What if the default notice is wrong?
A defective notice can materially weaken the landlord’s position, depending on the lease and the claim being asserted.
Can a guarantor be sued even if the business failed?
Yes, if there is an enforceable guaranty and its conditions were triggered.
I want out of the lease. What matters most first?
The lease language, any default status, surrender terms, notice provisions, and whether the landlord accepted or rejected the space.