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Understanding License vs. Lease for Pop-Up Shops & Short-Term Use, Study notes of Law

British Computer Society (BCS)Law

The differences between a lease and a license for property owners offering pop-up shops and other short-term use arrangements. Learn how a properly drafted license provides better protection for property owners and the key factors to consider when drafting a license agreement.

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Lasser Law Group | Real Estate, Construction & Litigation
Attorneys - 1 / 2 - 07.01.2022
Lasser Law Group | Real Estate,
Construction & Litigation Attorneys
Pop-Up Shops And Other Short Term Use Arrangements :
Lease Or License?
Stephen Lasser · Monday, January 29th, 2018
In recent years, retail pop-up shops have become a growing trend among property owners looking
to increase cash flow or traffic to their properties as well as businesses looking to reach new
markets or test a new product while limiting their potential long-term lease obligations. This trend
started gaining popularity during the depression of 2009 when property owners experiencing high
vacancy rates needed to fill spaces and find new sources of cash flow, and has continued due to the
increased competition e-commerce has placed on brick and mortar stores.
Because pop-up shops and other short term use arrangements such as shared office space (e.g.
WeWork) seem to be a lasting trend, property owners interested in short term use arrangements
must understand the differences between a lease and a license, and how a license provides a
property owner with better protection in the event it needs to remove a business from its space in
an expedited manner as explained below.
The fundamental difference between a lease and a license is that a lease provides the tenant with
exclusive and irrevocable possession of the space, while a license merely grants the licensee the
non-exclusive privilege to use the space which is revocable at will. As a result, while a lease grants
the tenant a property interest in the space and creates a landlord-tenant relationship, a properly
drafted license will not create a landlord-tenant relationship and the licensor (landlord) can
circumvent the expensive and time-consuming process of a summary eviction proceeding by using
self-help in the event the licensor needs to remove a licensee from its space.
Property owners interested in licensing space must be aware of the factors which would make an
agreement be a considered a license instead of a lease. Simply naming an agreement a license does
not make it so, and a poorly drafted license can have the potential of being interpreted to be a lease.
The main legal analysis and considerations of whether an agreement is considered a lease or a
license depends on the access and exclusive control language in the agreement. A good indicator of
a license is a provision which states that “the license granted under this license is and shall at all
times be a non-exclusive, revocable license which can be terminated at will by licensor, and shall
not be deemed to create any tenancy interest in favor of licensee with respect to the space or the
related services provided under the license.” As you can see, it is critical that the property owner
maintain control over the space, so security measures such as electronic key fobs and other
electronic access methods that can be controlled and turned off unilaterally by the property owner
are a strong indicator of a license arrangement. In addition, property owners (licensors) should try
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1

Lasser Law Group | Real Estate, Construction & Litigation Attorneys

  • 1 / 2 - 07.01.

Lasser Law Group | Real Estate,

Construction & Litigation Attorneys

Pop-Up Shops And Other Short Term Use Arrangements :

Lease Or License?

Stephen Lasser · Monday, January 29th, 2018

In recent years, retail pop-up shops have become a growing trend among property owners looking to increase cash flow or traffic to their properties as well as businesses looking to reach new markets or test a new product while limiting their potential long-term lease obligations. This trend started gaining popularity during the depression of 2009 when property owners experiencing high vacancy rates needed to fill spaces and find new sources of cash flow, and has continued due to the increased competition e-commerce has placed on brick and mortar stores.

Because pop-up shops and other short term use arrangements such as shared office space (e.g. WeWork) seem to be a lasting trend, property owners interested in short term use arrangements must understand the differences between a lease and a license, and how a license provides a property owner with better protection in the event it needs to remove a business from its space in an expedited manner as explained below.

The fundamental difference between a lease and a license is that a lease provides the tenant with exclusive and irrevocable possession of the space, while a license merely grants the licensee the non-exclusive privilege to use the space which is revocable at will. As a result, while a lease grants the tenant a property interest in the space and creates a landlord-tenant relationship, a properly drafted license will not create a landlord-tenant relationship and the licensor (landlord) can circumvent the expensive and time-consuming process of a summary eviction proceeding by using self-help in the event the licensor needs to remove a licensee from its space.

Property owners interested in licensing space must be aware of the factors which would make an agreement be a considered a license instead of a lease. Simply naming an agreement a license does not make it so, and a poorly drafted license can have the potential of being interpreted to be a lease.

The main legal analysis and considerations of whether an agreement is considered a lease or a license depends on the access and exclusive control language in the agreement. A good indicator of a license is a provision which states that “the license granted under this license is and shall at all times be a non-exclusive, revocable license which can be terminated at will by licensor, and shall not be deemed to create any tenancy interest in favor of licensee with respect to the space or the related services provided under the license.” As you can see, it is critical that the property owner maintain control over the space, so security measures such as electronic key fobs and other electronic access methods that can be controlled and turned off unilaterally by the property owner are a strong indicator of a license arrangement. In addition, property owners (licensors) should try

2

Lasser Law Group | Real Estate, Construction & Litigation Attorneys

  • 2 / 2 - 07.01.

to provide all services and furniture for the space with an express provision within the license agreement stating that the services and furniture are the property of the licensor and not the licensee’s property.

For example, in a 2002 lawsuit regarding a dispute over whether an agreement was a lease or a license, the Court ruled against the property owner and determined it unlawfully evicted the occupant of the space who was a tenant and not a licensee. See Nextel of New York, Inc. v. Time Mgmt. Corp., 297 A.D.2d 282, 746 N.Y.S.2d 169 (2002). In the Nextel case, Nextel entered into an agreement labeled as a license with Time Management to install cellular antennas on the roof of Time Management’s building and to occupy 200 square feet of interior space in the building. When Time Management tried to terminate the license and remove Nextel from the space using self-help, Nextel filed a Yellowstone injunction to stop the eviction and sued Time Management for wrongful eviction. The Court agreed with Nextel and found the agreement to be a lease (and not a license), and the self-help eviction to be unlawful. In reaching its decision, the Court looked to the parties agreement which stated that Nextel was to partition off an existing room in the building and install a door in order to create a space for its radio and electrical equipment, Nextel would retain title to the equipment it installed in the newly created space, and Nextel’s employees had exclusive use and unfettered access to the space and found that these provisions were “typical of a lease and conferring rights well beyond those of a license or holder of a mere temporary privilege.”

The bottom line is that no matter what you name the agreement and no matter how temporary the nature of the pop-up shop or other short term occupancy arrangement may seem, there are specific terms that must be included if a property owner wants to take advantage of the benefits conferred by a license such as self-help evictions. Property owners should be aware of the factors (i.e., revocability, control, access, and services) which distinguish a license from a lease agreement, and should have an attorney familiar with license agreements draft or review the license ahead of time to avoid the potential pitfalls of failing to draft a valid and enforceable license.

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 29th, 2018 at 12:00 pm and is filed under License vs Lease, Sales and Leasing You can follow any responses to this entry through the Comments (RSS) feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.