Landlords and the Dreaded Notice to Cure

Your business is buzzing, you’re working 90 hour weeks and everything is going well.  You can’t believe how the neighborhood has grown up around you and patrons and waiting in line to get in on Tuesday nights.  Lucky for you, your rent is manageable, and possibly even a little below market value.  Everything seems to be rolling in the right direction.

Until you receive the dreaded Notice to Cure from your landlord.  The landlord alleges that you are violating some provision in your lease, either your build out is improper, you are violating a city regulation, or you did not ask permission from the landlord to do something in your premises that you thought you were allowed to do.  The Notice states that if you do not cure the violation within a certain number of days (usually 15), your lease will be terminated and you will be evicted.  You may not have even done anything wrong, and you face the real possibility of your business’s closure.  A chill runs down your spine.  This is a scary occurrence for any business owner, and if you do not act fast, eviction may be possible.

Fortunately, you have a saving grace in the form of a Yellowstone injunction.  If the Notice’s cure period has not yet expired, then an attorney can file an expedited proceeding requesting that a Judge stay the cure period pending ultimate determination of the merits of the Notice.  A tenant can argue that the Notice is incorrect and that there is no violation of the lease terms, or that, if there is a violation of the lease terms, that the time to cure should be extended since it cannot be accomplished within the limited time provided for in the Notice.  This is a complex procedure that should be handled by an attorney, but it often returns great results.

So if you receive a Notice to Cure from your landlord (or Notice of Default, or any Notice really), don’t panic.  Please make sure to immediately send the Notice to your attorney with an explanation of the events leading up to it.  Chances are that this simple act will save you from eviction and a shuttering of your business.  For more information, or if you receive such a Notice, please reach out to Robert Ontell at Helbraun Levey LLP, either via phone, (212) 219-1193, or email, [email protected].