By: Gary M. Kaleita If you are an investor buying a leased property, you are undoubtedly looking to the rental income as the return on your investment, in addition to the appreciation in the value …
Submerged Land Leases
By: Gary M. Kaleita The Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of the State of Florida (the Board of Trustees) is vested with title to all land lying under navigable waters within …
Property Buyer Beware: Avoid Costly Tax Liabilities with a Sales Tax Clearance Letter
By: Gary Kaleita Florida imposes sales tax on rent payable under commercial leases. The rate imposed by the state is 5.5%, but local governments have the right to impose a surtax which varies based on …
Do Change of Control Transactions Constitute an Assignment by Operation of Law?
By: Laura Walda & Samantha Duran Commercial landlords often rely on anti-assignment provisions to restrict the ability of tenants to assign their interest in a lease to a third party. Such provisions will often explicitly restrict assignments by “operation of law,” which are generally …
New Florida Law Expected to Significantly Reduce Florida’s Commercial Lease Sales Tax Rate
By: Matthew O’Kane & Samantha Duran On April 19, 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Senate Bill 50 (SB 50), which amends portions of Chapter 212, Florida Statutes. SB 50 is slated to significantly reduce Florida’s commercial leasing sales tax rate and reemployment tax rate and to …
Federal Judge Strikes Down CDC Eviction Moratorium
By: James Walson & Michael Piccolo On Wednesday, May 5, 2021, Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the residential eviction moratorium was unlawful as it was …
COVID’s Lasting Impacts on Commercial Lease Negotiations
By: Shawn Rader The COVID pandemic will have a lasting impact on lease negotiations from this point. Ty West, senior editor of national content at American City Business Journals, published an interesting article on the topic on May 3, in which he makes the …
Fitness Operators Dealt Blow Regarding Pandemic Business-Interruption Claims
By: Timothy Miedona Another blow to fitness operators as courts rule against business interruption claims due to COVID-19. https://www.law360.com/articles/1372993/insurer-says-la-fitness-virus-losses-aren-t-fit-for-coverage
Hillsborough County Commercial Lease Sales Tax Rate Reduced by Recent Florida Supreme Court Decision
By: Matthew R. O’Kane & Samantha Duran A recent Florida Supreme Court decision1 found that the Hillsborough County 1% transportation sales surtax is unconstitutional. As a result, the decision reduced the sales tax rate on commercial lease payments in Hillsborough County to 7%. In a 4-1 …
COVID-19-Related Lease Modifications Raise New Issues of Liability for Unpaid Rent
By: Daniel McIntosh & Samantha Duran As pandemic-related shutdowns battered the retail and restaurant industry, many tenants avoided defaulting on their leases by negotiating a lease workout. These agreements often provided tenants some much-needed rent relief in exchange for …