New Jersey has a tax amnesty gift for its delinquent tax payers. In a nutshell, if by January 15, 2019, a taxpayer brings all back taxes current and pays 50% of the outstanding interest due, the NJ Department of Treasury will waive most penalties, collection costs and 1/2 of the interest that is due as of November 1, 2018. To file for tax amnesty, the taxpayer must also file all past due returns. Click here for detailed program information straight from the NJ Department of Treasury.

Filing Deadline, Eligible Periods and Forms for Amnesty Compliance

There are several deadlines NJ taxpayers must be aware of to be eligible for tax amnesty.

Amnesty Deadlines:

First, all required tax amnesty payments must be received on or before January 15, 2019. If you want to pay by check, you must mail or go in person to one of the Regional Information Centers. To pay by e-check or credit card, you must apply for a PIN and go through the NJ Amnesty Processing Center. In addition, all tax returns must be postmarked no later than January 15, 2019.

Eligible Periods and Taxes:

In order for a tax to be eligible for amnesty, it must be for a NJ state tax liability for a return that was due for the time period after February 1, 2009 through September 1, 2017. Eligible taxes include those taxes that are collected by the NJ Division of Taxation. Taxes that are collected by the NJ Department of Labor (real estate and payroll for example) are not a part of this program.

Forms:

Click here for the forms needed to apply for the amnesty program.

What should I do going forward?

Tax amnesty is an incredible opportunity for taxpayers to resolve outstanding New Jersey tax liabilities. Going forward, if a taxpayer receives an assessment in the mail for the above tax periods and they are greater than what is being offered by the program – don’t settle. Negotiate a deal that is comparable to the program. This is an excellent time for taxpayers who might have not filed all of the required returns or perhaps may have under reported income to come to the table and get rid of those skeletons in the closet.

If you have any questions regarding this program or any other issue affecting your business, please feel free to call the attorneys at Danziger Shapiro, P.C. We are available to assist you with your business needs. We look forward to hearing from you.

This entry is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was approved by EU Parliament back in May 2017. The GDPR, in a nutshell, was designed to replace an inconsistent set of data privacy laws with a comprehensive law that protected all European Union residents. Please click here for my original post on the GDPR. While the GDPR has been in effect for over a year, the law gave companies until May 25, 2018 to comply. Well, that deadline has come and gone. If you fail to comply, regulators can impose a fine of up to 4% of worldwide revenue. This is NOT a typo! 4% of worldwide revenue up to 20 million euros.

Currently, there are no grace periods if your company still has not complied with the GDPR. Additionally, as the ability to enforce compliance is less than 1 week old, there is no precedent out there that we can use as guidance. Regulators for EU member states have indicated different going forward approaches to enforcement. While one state regulator has inferred that even if full compliance has not yet been achieved, the efforts made to attain compliance will be taken into account as a mitigating factor. Alternatively, other state regulators have simply stated that if we have reason to impose a fine we will impose a fine. In this regard, the newly created European Data Protection Board was recently created.

Going Forward – What should US Companies do?

US companies had over a year to prepare for the May 25, 2018 compliance deadline. Just burying your head in the sand is not a good strategy considering the potential fine of up to 4% of worldwide revenue. US companies need to understand if their online business presence falls under the GDPR. If you have any questions regarding this or any other aspect of your business, please feel free to contact us at Danziger Shapiro, P.C.

This entry is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.

All US employers are required to use an I-9 form to verify the identity and eligibility of individuals (both citizens and non-citizens) for employment in the United States. Please take notice that effective today, January 22, 2017, there is a new I-9 form that replaces the one currently in place. You can download a copy of the new I-9 form by clicking here. For easy access, bookmark this blog entry for when you will need the form in the future.

Whats New?

This new form looks very similar to other recent incarnations with a few specific changes. The digital version linked above is now much easier to fill out online. It also includes the ability to general a QR code upon filling out the form, which can be helpful for providing copies to the appropriate parties. It also includes much more space to indicate preparers, translators, and other information that has often found it’s way to being written in the margins.

Where to File

Simply stated, employers do not file the I-9. Rather, employers must retain a copy of the completed form on file for each individual on payroll that is required to complete the form. The I-9 must be kept on file for the later of 3 years after the start of employment or 1 year after termination. The I-9 must be readily available for inspection if asked by the Department of Labor, Department of Justice or the Department for Homeland Security.

Sanctions

Employers who elect to either not fill out the I-9 or hold it for the required length of time will be subject to sanctions. Sanctions run the gamut from relatively minor to quite severe depending upon the nature of the underlying violation. Was the violation merely a clerical oversight or was there a pattern of non compliance? For example, a staffing company in December of 2015 was fined almost a quarter of a million dollars for falsely claiming it had properly verified the eligibility of 242 employees it had hired.

Discrimination and the I-9

Using the information obtained from a completed form may be the basis for a discrimination lawsuit. Remember, an employer cannot make a hiring decision, or firing decision for that matter, based upon nation origin or immigration status. This form is only used AFTER an individual has been offered a job. In addition, please remember that the form has not been replaced by E-Verify. E-verify is merely a way to double check the information provided on an I-9 by a prospective employee.

Douglas Leavitt is an attorney with Danziger Shapiro and focuses his practice on guiding business with their daily operational needs. Please feel free to contact him or any of the other attorneys at Danziger Shapiro to discuss how this new change will affect your business or any other issue you may have that concerns you and your business.

This entry is presented for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

New Overtime Law is Blocked

The new overtime law that would have increased pay for millions of employees starting on December 1 has been blocked by a preliminary injunction issued by a Texas federal court. The law would have raised the minimum salary hourly threshold exemption for white collar employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act from $23,660 to $47,476. Since this occurred in a federal court, the injunction applies to the entire country. A preliminary injunction however, is not a final determination by the Court. All this means is that the Court wants to look into this matter further and that for now, the status quo will remain in effect. From an employer’s perspective, this means that no changes need to take place on December 1 and employers can follow the existing overtime rules. Please click here for our May 2016 blog post that discussed the impact the new overtime law would have had on your business.

Employer Overtime Considerations

While this clearly is a positive result for employers from a cash flow perspective, it places employers in difficult situations if they have already told their salaried employees how the new rule would have affected them. Recognizing that an employer no longer has to comply with the new overtime law, consideration needs to focus on more than just what is legally required. Care needs to be given to employee morale. Employees who were told that they would be getting a raise are not going to be happy to learn that it is being pulled out from underneath them. If an employer does elect not to go forward, care needs to be given so that employers do not create claims by angered employees. It is unfortunate but in this case, employers who were not prepared for the new overtime law are the employers who have dodged a bullet and it is the proactive employers who are left dealing with the messy consequences.

Regardless of what category you as an employer fall into, we still believe it a best practice to review the duties your employees are actually doing compared to their title and make sure you comply with current FLSA requirements. If you do this, you will be in a better position to comply with whatever changes are ultimately approved by the Department of Labor.

As we stated in our earlier post on this topic, please remember the minimum wage under the FSLA is only a floor and states are free to set their own minimum wages as they see fit. The current minimum wage in Pennsylvania at the time this article was posted is $7.25 per hour and in New Jersey it is $8.38 per hour.

Douglas Leavitt is an attorney with Danziger Shapiro and focuses his practice on guiding business with their daily operational needs. Please feel free to contact him or any of the other attorneys at Danziger Shapiro to discuss how this new change will affect your business or any other issue you may have that concerns you and your business.

This entry is presented for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

Driving to work this morning I was thinking about my aging receivables and was becoming increasingly frustrated. Although I am a lawyer and work in a Philadelphia law firm, I am also, at my core, the owner of a small business. I provide services and expect or hope to get paid. My situation isn’t very different from any business or service provider. As I thought about what I could do better to insure that I got paid, I thought there are probably a lot of other business owners, chief financial officers and the like that would appreciate options they can consider implementing to increase their chances of being paid for services rendered, products delivered or items that were manufactured.

The starting point – your contract. Whenever a client or potential client calls me and wants to discuss how to structure a transaction to insure they are paid or at the very least minimize the risk they are not paid the starting point is always the same. Have you worked with this entity before and do you have any written agreements or standard terms and conditions that govern the contemplated transaction? Every contract starts with the assumption that each party will be responsible for paying its own legal fees? This concept is known as the American Rule. However, if your contract or standard terms and conditions state that the buyer will be responsible for all costs and expenses, including legal fees incurred in connection with your collection efforts – you have successfully shifted the American Rule on its head. Now, not only is the breaching company responsible for paying your outstanding receivable, but it is now responsible for your legal fees as well. Keep in mind that this does not necessarily guaranty payment but you not have another hammer in your negotiation arsenal to use against the defaulting party.

Cash is king. In my line of work the only way I can completely guarantee payment is with the retainer. Similarly the simplest way to guarantee payment is cash up front before services begin. This is why, for example, doctors require the co-payment before services are rendered and not on the way out. However, recognizing this is stating the obvious, other possibilities include timing the payments better. For example, if you are manufacturing a specific part for a customer or providing consulting services, develop a payment schedule that is tied to verifiable deliverables. If you meet a deliverable milestone and they don’t pay, you stop working. Other possibilities that can be explored is cash on delivery (COD). COD is a very basic but effective method to insure that you are paid when a physical product is involved.

The guaranty. When dealing with a financially troubled company it is always a good idea to explore the idea of another person or entity guaranty the payment. In this scenario there will always be push back from the company but it always comes down to negotiating power. Who needs whom more? While I always try to get a retainer, when I represent a company like Sprint or PNC Bank for example, they don’t give retainers. If I want to work with these entities, I have to work under their standard terms. If you are able to get guaranty from a third party, it is important to make sure the guaranty allows the collection process to start when there is a default and does not require that all options available have been taken against the debtor company first. In other words, an effective guaranty will allow simultaneous enforcement against both the guarantor and the debtor company.

The Letter of Credit. Related to the idea of a guaranty is the letter of credit. In this situation, your company has manufactured a product and if the vendor does not pay, you are able to draw against the letter of credit. In other words, the bank pays you what your vendor should have paid and then the bank will go against your vendor for payment.

The Security Interest. When a bank lends money to a borrower who want to buy real estate (commercial or residential) it will always ask for a collateral. If the borrower is unable to pay, the bank makes sure that it can take back the property you purchased with the money the bank advanced. This is accomplished with a security agreement. In the case of real estate, this is the mortgage. If you fail to live up to the terms of the promissory note, the bank will enforce its rights under the mortgage and take back the real estate.

If you are a financing company, this scenario is accomplished through a security agreement and UCC financing statement. The security agreement will govern the terms and conditions you can take back the object financed if payment is not made. The UCC-1 financing statement is necessary to protect you so an unscrupulous debtor is unable to take the equipment that it financed with you and offer it as security for another line of credit. Without the UCC-1 you will be unprotected and a third party might be able to have a claim above you with respect to the very object your financing allowed the debtor to purchase. Think of the financing statement as a public notice system where you can look to see if the item you are consider as collateral is subject to claims by third parties. If you don’t look into this, the risk falls on you.

Consignment. Consignment is an arrangement where you retain title to the product until the seller is able to sell it to a third party. If this is done correctly, you get the product back if it is not sold. The danger here is that the product is not in your possession during the entire process so you lose control. Further complicating this is if the legal requirements are not strictly complied with, the seller’s bank might get priority over your consigned property.

The Setoff. This isn’t so much a way to structure a transaction as a concept to be included in your agreement. This is why it wasn’t placed in the “contract” section at the start of this post. As the provider of good and services, you want to retain the right to set-off while not allowing your customer this right. Consider this example. You deliver commercial lawn equipment to a commercial developer and it agrees to pay $100,000 for the equipment. Unfortunately the developer asserts that 5 machines are damages and as a result you owe him $20,000 for the value of the damaged machines. If the developer has not paid the $100,000 for the machines, you can find yourself in the untenable position of owing the developer $20,000 while the developer owes you $100,000 as opposed to the developer just owing you $80,000 thru an offset.

As set forth above, the purpose of this post was to make you think about what can I be doing to maximize the probability that I get paid for the services or products that I deliver. These are just a few of the basic ideas. There are other concepts, a stock pledge, for example, that can be used depending on the situation and the players and history involved. Every situation is uniquely different and needs to be carefully considered in the context of the business history between the parties. Should you wish to discuss any aspect of this post, please feel free to contact us at Danziger Shapiro, P.C.

This entry is presented for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

Partnership Audit Rules Today

Under the rules in effect today, IRS audits of partnerships and LLCs are primarily conducted under a single administrative proceeding at the business entity level. The ultimate tax liability is decided at the entity level and any adjustments decided by the IRS flow through the entity (remember-the partnership is a pass through for tax purposes) and are allocated to the individual partners or members. In addition, the law in effect today requires that certain members of the partnership need to be notified of major findings during the audit process. Finally, the partnership level audit does not necessarily bind all partners.

Partnership Audit Rules for 2018 Tax Year

Under the new audit process, the partnership will designate a “partnership representative” in its partnership agreement for dealing with the IRS during the audit process. Individual partners no longer are required to receive notification of developments that occur during the audit process. Should the IRS make an adjustment as a result of its audit, the business entity will be responsible for the tax. This is a significant change from existing law where partnerships and LLCs were treated as flow-through entities and usually were not subject to entity level taxes. In addition, any additional tax will be assessed against the entity in the year the audit was completed. In other words, the entity will not file amended returns but rather just include this liability going forward. There are ways in which the entity can still shift the audit adjustment to individual partners, such as the issuance of adjusted schedule K-1s, but this getting beyond the scope of this post.

Practical Insights

The new law has an annual opt-out provision for business entities with less than 100 partners so long as certain other membership restrictions are met. Current partnership and LLC operating agreements need to be reviewed to consider what, if any, changes need to be made with respect to admitting prospective member in light of the new law. In addition, new members need to be cognizant of the fact that under the new law, new partners will be responsible for the tax sins of the past. New indemnification provisions need to be added, or at the very least considered, from both the existing individual partner perspective and potential new partner as well. Does the partnership want to require that all entity level audit assessments be shifted to the individual partners/members to maintain pass–through treatment? Should the organizational documents be amended to require that partners and members be required to receive notification of significant developments during the audit process? All these considerations are just that-considerations. No one solution will fit all scenarios and discussions over what is best should occur to prevent any unwanted surprises in upcoming tax seasons. To review your company’s organizational agreements, or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at Danziger Shapiro, P.C.
This entry is presented for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

The grand jury is a group of individuals as a collective legal body whose function is to determine if criminal charges (an indictment) should be brought against a particular person or entity. Federal grand juries are comprised of between 16-23 individuals. What happens in a grand jury is kept secret. This is done for two purposes. First, it encourages witnesses to talk freely. Second, if the grand jury decides not to indict, the potential defendant’s reputation is not harmed. There is no judge in a grand jury and thus it is more relaxed than a typical court room. The prosecutor will explain the law to the grand jury and present witness testimony and exhibits for the jury to consider. The rules of evidence that pertain to the introduction of exhibits and testimony are relaxed at this stage and the grand jury has the ability to see and hear much more than what a typical jury would be allowed to consider. The prosecutor is able to compel individuals to give testimony at the grand jury by serving a subpoena-an Order of the Court that compels the individual to appear and testify. Remember, the grand jury does not decide guilt, but only if the prosecutor should bring the criminal charges in the first instance. The jury in a criminal trial is different group of individuals from the grand jury and the jury trial typically does not have the ability to consider everything the grand jury did.

TARGET

There are three different types or classifications of grand jury witnesses: Target – Subject- Witness. If you receive a letter in the mail from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that you are a target, you have been formally notified by the DOJ that they intend to call you before a federal grand jury to testify regarding criminal activity the DOJ believes you participated in. You need to immediately contact a white collar criminal defense attorney. This is very serious and you need to take immediate steps and take action to protect yourself. Chances are the government has been investigating the criminal activity at issue and you for months and possibly years. The absolute worst thing you can do is pick up the telephone and call the DOJ believing you can explain to them why this is a mistake. Please resist the urge to pick up the phone and call them! Most likely, anything you say to the U.S. Attorney will be used against you and you are more likely to hurt your case than help. Contact a white collar criminal defense attorney and follow their directives.

Below is a sample target letter taken right from the U.S. Attorneys’ Criminal Resource Manual:

This letter is supplied to a witness scheduled to appear before the federal Grand Jury in order to provide helpful background information about the Grand Jury. The Grand Jury consists of from sixteen to twenty-three persons from the District of ___. It is their responsibility to inquire into federal crimes which may have been committed in this District.

As a Grand Jury witness you will be asked to testify and answer questions, and to produce records and documents. Only the members of the Grand Jury, attorneys for the United States and a stenographer are permitted in the Grand Jury room while you testify.

We advise you that the Grand Jury is conducting an investigation of possible violations of federal criminal laws involving, but not necessarily limited to _______*. You are advised that the destruction or alteration of any document required to be produced before the grand jury constitutes serious violation of federal law, including but not limited to Obstruction of Justice.

You are advised that you are a target of the Grand Jury’s investigation. You may refuse to answer any question if a truthful answer to the question would tend to incriminate you. Anything that you do or say may be used against you in a subsequent legal proceeding. If you have retained counsel, who represents you personally, the Grand Jury will permit you a reasonable opportunity to step outside the Grand Jury room and confer with counsel if you desire.

Cordially,

If you receive the “target” letter the U.S. Attorney believes that there is substantial evidence linking you to a crime. However, with skillful lawyering it is not inevitable that the receipt of a target letter results with your indictment.

TARGET versus SUBJECT

If you are the subject of a grand jury investigation you have been identified by the U.S. Attorney as someone who has information that would be helpful to the U.S. Attorneys’ investigation. One’s status may change from “subject” to “target” during an investigation so do not take it lightly if you are called before a grand jury to testify as a subject. A quick way to elevate your status from subject to target is to destroy evidence or lie to the U.S. Attorney. This is what is referred to as obstruction of justice and will not help you in any way.

WITNESS

The third category is that of a “witness”. A witness is someone who the government believes has helpful information but did not do anything wrong. Think of the person walking on the sidewalk and sees a bank robber leaving the bank. While in all likelihood you will be fine, but you don’t want to have something you say misinterpreted.

If you are the target, subject or witness of a grand jury investigation, please call our offices. The attorneys at Danziger Shapiro, P.C. will be happy to discuss the grand jury process with you and explain what options you have going forward. Call us and do not make the mistake of contacting or meeting the U.S. Attorney without your attorney present. We will not charge you for our initial meeting and want to help.

This entry is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.

FIRST – To be eligible for any cooperation credit, corporations must identify all relevant facts and individuals responsible for the misconduct.

If a company wants to receive any cooperation credit, it must now disclose all relevant facts and actors. A corporation can no longer pick and choose to hide those individuals responsible based upon, position, status, or seniority. To receive cooperation credit, the company must learn all relevant information and turn this over to Justice otherwise cooperation will not be considered as a mitigating factor under USAM 9-28 et seq. Stated another way, the company must now be an active participant in its own internal investigation and must learn and discover the extent of its wrongdoings. This self-reporting is only the minimum threshold. The extent of any cooperation credit is awarded by Justice, it will still be based on the same factors that have traditionally been applied in making this determination – timeliness of cooperation, thoroughness, diligence, speed of internal investigation and whether the cooperation was proactive or not.

SECOND – Both criminal and civil corporate investigations should focus on individuals from the inception of the investigation.

Justice has identified three benefits of making a concerted effort to go after individuals at the beginning of its investigation. First, corporations only act by individuals so by building its case against these individuals Justice believes that this will ferret out the full extent of corporate misconduct. Second, by focusing on lower level individuals at the inception, Justice this will increase the likelihood that individuals with inside knowledge of the wrongdoing will cooperate with the investigation and turn over useful information against the individuals higher up the corporate hierarchy. Third and finally, Justice hopes this approach will maximize the likelihood that any outcome will include charges not only against the corporation but also the responsible individuals as well.

THIRD – Both civil and criminal corporate investigations should be in routine communication with one another.

While this may appear obvious, it has not always been the case that both the civil and criminal sides of Justice work together and communicate. When there is a criminal and civil investigation ongoing at the same time, this is known as a parallel investigation. While both sides may be investigating the same transactions or events, one may learn facts that may be helpful to the other in its investigation. With different burdens of proof and charges, what may not be enough for a criminal charge may satisfy a civil charge and likewise a civil investigation may reveal facts that would be helpful to a criminal charge. By having a directive that both sides need to cooperate and share information in a meaningful manner, Justice hopes that this will lead to more successful conclusions to both civil and criminal matters.

FOURTH – No corporate resolution will provide protection from civil or criminal liability for any individuals absent extraordinary circumstances.

Individuals must be held accountable for their actions and therefore Justice may not agree to any settlement with the corporation that includes an agreement to dismiss charges or grants immunity to an individual. This is self-explanatory and just highlights once again that individuals are the main thrust of any investigation going forward.

FIFTH – Corporate cases should not be resolved without a clear plan to resolve related individual cases.

Once again, individuals are the main thrust of any investigation going forward. Going forward, if a corporate case is going to be resolved, the corporate authorization or prosecution memorandum must also include a discussion of potentially liable individuals. If the decision at the end of the investigation is not to bring an action against the individuals responsible for the misconduct, those reasons must be memorialized and approved by the US Attorney or Assistant US Attorney who handled the investigation of the case.

SIXTH – Considerations to bring suit against the individual must not be made solely on the ability to pay.

Unfortunately, it is now an edict of Justice that determinations to go forward against individuals will not be governed by the ability to pay. Factors that have always been considered are the seriousness of the misconduct, quality of evidence obtained, ability to obtain a judgment, past misconduct and federal resources and priorities. Justice stated that by holding the individual accountable in view of the above factors will minimize fraud and in the long run minimize losses to the public through fiscal fraud.

What is the take away here? Individual employees need to understand that if they do not take efforts to protect themselves they can be squarely in the cross-hairs for corporate fraud. It may not be enough to merely report the fraud to your superior, especially if your superior is part of the fraud to begin with. Justice has shifted the paradigm and it is now in the interest of the Corporation to come forward and complete its own internal investigation. As an employee, your future may not align with your employer during this investigation, especially if it was your information that triggered the investigation. It will be interesting to see how the Justice Department implements these new directives against the backdrop of the VW fraud emission scandal.

The attorneys at Danziger Shapiro have represented many individuals before the SEC, FINRA, federal forfeiture proceedings and other investigative bodies and can provide sound tactical guidance if you find yourself in these uncharted waters. Please feel free to contact us at Danziger Shapiro for insight into this and other issues that concern you.

This entry is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.

Complicating the analysis of whether your workers are independent contractors or employees in Pennsylvania is that the state and federal courts focus on different factors. Even more troublesome, in some instances the state itself may have different tests depending upon which state agency you are before. For example, worker’s compensation and unemployment compensation are both Pennsylvania state agencies, but each agency looks to different factors when making their determination. As the employer, you must be certain that your decision will satisfy all applicable criteria for the agency or department most likely to be evaluating your business. The analysis entails much more than just reviewing the old 20 part IRS control test. While many worker prefer an independent contractor classification, the risk to the business has just become too great to not conduct a thorough review and action plan.

The attorneys at Danziger Shapiro can assist you in determining whether your workers are either employees or independent contractors. Please call us today to discuss these and other issues affecting your company.

By: Douglas M. Leavitt, Esq.

A thorough lease review is important so you understand not only what the lease includes, but also what the lease does not include; and what terms are implied by law. Often, we see clients presented with lease agreements that contain terms which are unenforceable in court. Although rent, term, purchase options and security deposits are always the key business terms to any lessee, there are other legal issues which must be considered.

While not an exhaustive list, major issues that a tenant should consider prior to signing or renewing include:

1. Never enter into a commercial real estate lease in your individual capacity. If necessary, offer to personally guaranty part of the lease or pay a higher security deposit. Be wary of the landlord who states, “Don’t worry. That is why you have insurance.”
2. Pennsylvania law does not require a commercial landlord to mitigate his damages. That means the landlord can refuse to sign a replacement tenant and hold you liable for the unpaid rent. Therefore, make sure your lease requires the landlord to mitigate.
3. If a zoning change is required for you to operate your business, negotiate in advance under what circumstances the lease can be terminated if you are unable to obtain either a zoning change or variance. Also, be sure to include in your lease that your landlord has an obligation to cooperate and support you before the zoning board. This may seem like common sense, but you’d be surprised how often it becomes an issue.
4. You may be responsible under applicable law for environmental problems that occurred on the leased property prior to you getting there. Review the environmental and indemnification sections of your lease carefully and ask questions concerning prior “uses” of the property.
5. Be sure that you have meaningful rights if your landlord sells the property.

The attorneys at Danziger Shapiro can assist you in reviewing your lease. Please call us today to discuss these and other issues affecting your company.

By: Douglas M. Leavitt, Esquire