2015 NY Slip Op 50089

Citation: 2015 NY Slip Op 50089
Jurisdiction: New York (state)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2015/2015_50089.htm ↗

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clause calling for a 250% increase in rent was enforceable where the landlord had already
found a new tenant to rent the premises at a 250% increase from the rent that the original
tenant was paying for the space. Additionally, in Chatham Green Mgt. Corp. v. AAFE
Mgt. Co., 2003 WL 22299083, 2003 NY Slip Op. 51298 (U) (NY City Civ. Ct), a case
involving a short term commercial lease agreement with a option to renew for five
consecutive years, the Civil Court held that the lease provision awarded the landlord 3
times the base rent was unenforceable. The court reasoned that such an amount was not
reasonably proportionate to the injury the landlord sustained as a result of the tenant's
failure to vacate the premises.

Furthermore, Judge Fairgrieve reasoned that "the Petitioner is seeking to
enforce a liquidation clause that calls for trebling the minimum amount of rent. Such an
amount bears no relation to harm actually suffered by the Petitioner. For the five years of
the subject lease, the Petitioner consistently increased the annual rent in increments of
$875.00. Accordingly, it would seem unjust and unconscionable to award Petitioner
treble rent when the value of the premises gradually increased throughout the last five
years in steady increments of $875.00. Furthermore, and rightfully so, "[l]iquidated
damages provisions are valuable in situations where it is difficult to ascertain the actual
damage. It is the right of the parties to agree upon liquidated damages that would be paid
in case of a breach of the lease, rather than leaving such an amount to the discretion of
the court or jury. Truck Rent—A—Center, Inc., 41 NY2d at 424,
(citing, 14 NY Jur, Damages, § 155, pp. 4—5). However, where a