In these distressed economic times, it is not uncommon for a commercial tenant to discontinue its business operations and relinquish possession of the premises even if there are years left on the lease term. At that point, the landlord has a decision to make keep the premises empty and attempt to collect rent from the tenant or mitigate his or her damages by leasing the premises to another tenant.
In Ferrick v. Bianchini, No. 3244 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2013), the Superior Court of Pennsylvania recently answered the question of whether a commercial landlord can accelerate the rent due for the remainder of the lease term against a tenant that abandoned the premises, and then lease the premises to another tenant and collect rent from the new tenant at the same time.
