Nick Carter, Matt Furman defeat preliminary injunction request in commercial lease dispute
Nick Carter and Matt Furman persuaded a Massachusetts Superior Court judge to deny a hotel operator’s preliminary injunction request in a lease dispute based on the operator allowing the property to fall into disrepair.
The firm’s client, which owns the property, is seeking to evict the hotel operator for violating a longstanding commercial lease, which requires the operator to maintain the property in “first class hotel” condition. Instead, the property is infested with mold, marred by obvious water damage, and is in general disrepair in many locations. The hotel operator has refused the client’s repeated demands to restore the condition of the hotel to the standards required in the lease.
In response to the eviction proceeding, the hotel operator attempted to enjoin the firm’s client from seeking to enforce the lease termination clause. It also asked the court to require the firm’s client to consent to repairs, although Mr. Carter and Mr. Furman argued consent was not required as the client had properly terminated the lease.
The judge, following a remote hearing on Zoom, determined that the hotel operator would not likely succeed on the merits and denied the preliminary injunction request.
The firm’s client is seeking over $10 million in damages for rehabilitating the derelict condition of the hotel and for all remaining rent due under the long-term lease.
Mr. Carter, a partner at the firm, has over two decades of extensive trial experience in state and federal courts, obtaining multiple seven-figure jury verdicts for clients. His civil litigation practice includes complex business disputes and real estate matters.
Mr. Furman concentrates his practice on complex commercial litigation, including business, employment, and real estate disputes. He regularly appears in trial courts throughout Massachusetts, including the Business Litigation Session and specialized Land Court.