Commercial Landlord-Tenant—Court Rejected Tenant's Argument That $7,500 Per Day Use and Occupancy Provision in a Stipulation Was Unconscionable Because It Amounted to Double Rent During Periods When Tenant's Restaurant Was Required To Be Closed Under Pandemic—Related Executive Orders

This decision involved a dispute between a restaurant tenant (tenant) and its landlord. The landlord had moved to compel the tenant to vacate the premises, asserting that the tenant "impermissibly held over under a lease modified by a so-ordered stipulation that the parties entered into earlier in this action" (stipulation). The landlord also moved, pursuant to the stipulation, to compel the tenant to pay rent and arrears, to pay $7,500 a day in use and occupancy (U&O) for every day following the lease's Dec. 31, 2020 expiration date and to pay the landlord reasonable attorney's fees. The court granted the landlord's motion.

The tenant had commenced the action in 2017, is seeking to compel the landlord to sign a "permit application needed to replace kitchen equipment destroyed by a fire." In October 2017, the parties entered into a "two-attorney stipulation, so-ordered by" the court, "that resolved many aspects of their dispute." The stipulation required the tenant to vacate and surrender possession by Dec. 31, 2020.