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Law360 (January 4, 2021, 9:33 PM EST) -- A bevy of Westfield shopping center landlords and property managers across the country have accused kids' clothing retailer The Children's Place and Korean beauty company Amorepacific of owing millions of dollars in rent, according to a pair of lawsuits filed in Los Angeles County.
The Children's Place owes $3.3 million for failing to pay the rent for its stores in Westfield shopping centers in California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey and New York, the long list of landlords claimed in their complaint lodged on New Year's Eve.
Meanwhile, Amorepacific, which operates Innisfree cosmetics stores, owes more than $5.2 million for refusing to pay rent and then unlawfully abandoning its stores in California, New York and New Jersey, according to the second suit, lodged the same day.
The Children's Place leases space at a slew of malls, including at the Westfield Culver City, the Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks and the Westfield Mission Valley in California and the Westfield Trumbull in Connecticut, the Westfield Annapolis in Maryland and the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey. The Children's Place has leased some of its spaces since the late 1990s, according to the suit.
The retailer's leases with the malls include clauses directly stating that it would still be obligated to pay rent in the midst of "restrictive governmental laws or controls," "acts of God" or "reasons of similar nature," the landlords said.
Still, The Children's Place stopped paying rent in April 2020, they alleged.
"Tenant's non-payment of rental for even one month is a default under the leases," the landlords said.
The landlords are alleging breach of lease. They're seeking damages, a court order forcing the retailer to pay the allegedly owed rent, attorney fees and court costs.
As for Amorepacific, it has leased spaces in the Westfield Santa Anita and the Westfield Valley Fair in California, the Westfield World Trade Center in New York City and the Westfield Garden State Plaza, according to the suit. Amorepacific leased the spaces in 2018, 2019 and early 2020, respectively, the landlords said.
Those leases, too, include clauses addressing so-called "force majeure events," they said. But Amorepacific has abandoned its stores and refused to pay what it owes, the landlords alleged.
In that suit, the landlords are alleging breach of lease and breach of guaranty and seeking damages, payment of the allegedly owed rent, attorney fees and court costs.
The retailers are the latest in a growing list to face litigation over rent in the midst of COVID-19. In July, WeWork's landlord at a Los Angeles office building said the coworking company owed at least $54 million in damages after it backed out of a 10-year lease agreement.
That same month, Italian fashion brand Valentino sued its Fifth Avenue landlord, arguing it has been blocked from moving out of the Manhattan space even though the lease has been rendered void by the COVID-19-spurred shutdown. Similarly, Jenner & Block LLP said its Chicago landlord actually owes the firm $840,000 thanks to a rent abatement provision triggered by the pandemic.
Victoria's Secret has also sued the landlord of its midtown Manhattan store, claiming the building's owners attempted to collect more than $1 million per month in rent after the shutdown despite the terms of the lease being unenforceable.
In May, the NBA was accused of failing to pay rent for its store on Fifth Avenue for two months and purportedly owes its landlord more than $1.2 million. Similarly, The Gap Inc. and Ross Stores Inc. have also been sued over unpaid rent, according to complaints in New York and Florida federal courts, respectively.
Last month, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and members of his cabinet were hit with a lawsuit by a group of landlords challenging his executive order allowing tenants to use their security deposits to cover back rent during the COVID-19 crisis. The lawsuit contends the governor does not have the right to meddle in private contracts.
The Children's Place, Amorepacific and Westfield representatives didn't immediately return requests for comment Monday.
The landlords and property managers are represented by Gregory S. Korman and Meegan I. Maczek of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP.
Counsel information for The Children's Place and Amorepacific wasn't immediately available Monday.
The cases are Westfield Property Management LLC et al. v. The Children's Place Inc., case number 20STCV49910, and Santa Anita Shoppingtown LP et al. v. Amorepacific US Inc. et al., case number 20STCV49872, both in California Superior Court for Los Angeles County.
--Additional reporting by Lauren Berg, Dave Simpson, Jeannie O'Sullivan and Craig Clough. Editing by Jay Jackson Jr.
Update: The story has been updated with case numbers.
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