Page 12 - NBIZ Magazine April 2021

remedies provided herein, enter upon the Premises and take property in the building’s dumpster. Someone will need to
possession of any and all goods, wares, equipment, fixtures, determine if these files are protected. Management should
furniture, improvements, and other personal property of immediately demand that the tenant retrieve this property
Tenant situated on the Premises, without liability for trespass from the premises. If that doesn’t work, then proper notices
or conversion, and sell the same at public or private sale, should be sent stating that the property is going to be
with or without having such property at the sale, after giving destroyed if not retrieved within sixty (60) days.
Tenant reasonable notice of the time and place of any public
sale or of the time after which any private sale is to be made; Landlord’s Property Upon Abandonment?
and at any such sale, the Landlord or its assigns may purchase Now some commercial leases state that upon tenant’s
unless otherwise prohibited by law. The proceeds from any abandonment, any property abandoned in the premises is
such disposition, less any and all expenses connected with considered the property of the landlord. This may be true
the taking of possession, holding, and selling of the property according to the lease but following the notice requirements
(including reasonable attorney's fees and other expenses), above is still highly recommended. An example of one of
shall be applied as a credit against the indebtedness secured those provisions found in a strongly worded landlord’s
by the security interest granted in this Paragraph. Any surplus commercial lease form is below:
shall be paid to Tenant or as otherwise required by law and
Tenant shall pay any deficiencies forthwith to Landlord. Upon Abandoned Property
request by Landlord, Tenant agrees to execute and deliver to All personal property of Tenant remaining in the Premises
Landlord a financing statement in a form sufficient to perfect after the termination or Expiration Date of the Lease Term
the security interest of Landlord in the aforementioned prop- or after the abandonment of the Premises by Tenant may be
erty and proceeds thereof under the provisions of the Texas treated by Landlord as having been abandoned by Tenant
Uniform Commercial Code. Upon request by Landlord, Tenant and Landlord may, at its option and election, thereafter
shall provide the name and address of any entity that has, or take possession of such property and either (i) declare
claims to have, an interest (including, without limitation, a se- same to be the property of Landlord, or (ii) at the cost and
curity interest) in any property located on the Premises and a expense of Tenant, store and/or dispose of such property
description of such property. Failure to provide such a list shall in any manner and for whatever consideration, Landlord,
result in a presumption that all property located in the Prem- in its sole discretion, shall deem advisable. The foregoing
ises belongs to the Tenant free from all claims. Without intend- notwithstanding, Landlord, if feasible, will return or destroy
ing to exclude any other manner of giving Tenant any required all PHI received from, or created or received by Landlord
notice, any requirement of reasonable notice to Tenant of on behalf of Tenant that Landlord still maintains in any
Landlord's intention to dispose of any collateral according form and will retain no copies of such information or, if such
to the enforcement of said security interest shall be met if return or destruction is not feasible, shall notify Tenant of
such notice is given in the manner prescribed in this Lease at the condition that makes the return or destruction of PHI not
least five (5) days before the time of any such disposition. The feasible and shall extend the protections of this Lease to the
landlord shall have all of the rights and remedies of a secured PHI and limit further uses and disclosures to those purposes
party under the law. The foregoing notwithstanding, Landlord that make the return or destruction of the PHI infeasible for
hereby waives any statutory or contractual lien relating to
PHI and expressly excludes PHI from any security agreement
and any Uniform Commercial Code financing statement
perfecting a landlord lien in the property at the Premises. A
landlord agrees that if it obtains possession of any PHI due to
foreclosure of any security interest, eviction, or other exercises
of repossession, that it shall treat the PHI in compliance with
applicable Requirements and shall, at Tenant’s sole cost and
expense, return PHI to Tenant, to the extent practicable, or if
impracticable, shall securely destroy the PHI without disclosing
PHI to third parties, by a professional disposal company
which serves attorneys, physicians and similar professionals
with on-going needs to appropriately destroy confidential
information, as if the Lease were terminated.

If one’s tenant was a healthcare provider and abandoned
the premises but left the space filled with the files seen at
right, what does a landlord do?
Most likely some of the files shown in this picture contain
protected healthcare information. Management and land-
lords alike have certain responsibilities to not just trash this

12 NBIZ ■ April 2021