Thanks for joining us for part two of our blog on potential liability of landlords who are reopening shopping centers to consumers in Ohio. In this part two, we will do a deeper dive into the negligence standard in Ohio. A plaintiff must establish three elements for a negligence claim: that (1) the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care; (2) the defendant breached that duty of care; and (3) as a direct and…

Commercial landlords all over the country are currently attempting to navigate the complicated waters of reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a difficult process, as there often seem to be different requirements for each state, county, and even city. In particular, the question of potential liability to customers seems to be of utmost importance. I recently reviewed this question from the perspective of an Ohio landlord and that lens should be kept in mind…

On April 1, 2020, Ohio Governor Michael DeWine signed Executive Order 2020-08D, which requested commercial landlords to suspend rent and evictions for 90 days and requested commercial lenders to forebear mortgage payments for 90 days. My first impression of the order was that it had no teeth. For various reasons that were understandable, the Governor made a request to landlords and lenders, but there was no requirement to the order. Nonetheless, I suggested in early…

COVID-19 has impacted the world unlike any event in recent history. While most industries have been affected, commercial real estate may suffer the most. Recently, I read an article from ZDNet that made me pause. The article cited a Gartner survey that concluded 74% of CFOs believe that a number of employees will be permanently moved from working on-site to working remotely in order to decrease commercial real estate costs. But, is this permanent shift…

In Part One of this blog post, I discussed an article recently published by CRE – The Counselors of Real Estate entitled, “The Coronavirus, the End of the Cycle, and U.S. Commercial Property Markets: Early Thoughts.” In this Part Two, I will continue my discussion of the long-term issues facing the real estate sector as a result of the coronavirus. Bricks-and-mortar retail has spent the past 10 years experiencing a seismic shift toward e-commerce, eliminating…