"While the four corners of the lease may not provide an out for not paying rent, experts say tenants may be able to make the argument that they don't need to pay rent if a co-tenancy portion of the lease is not fulfilled. Co-tenancy provisions are designed to help a tenant have some sort of a guarantee of the amount of foot traffic going by the store by requiring other stores to remain open. Mall owners routinely juggle hundreds of such provisions, but the forced closure of many malls and stores may trigger co-tenancy agreements, and could give tenants an argument as to why they are not required to pay rent. "If every other store [in a mall] is shut down, that provides a defense," Weiner said."
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