Late Relief From Forfeiture

Commercial landlords know that if a tenant fails to pay rent and the lease contains a forfeiture clause, the landlord can forfeit the lease by peaceable re-entry i.e by changing the locks when the tenant is not in the premises. It can be a useful self-help remedy but it is limited by the tenant's right to claim relief from forfeiture and get back into the premises if he pays the rent arrears and associated costs.

The long held belief that a tenant has about 6 months to make its claim for relief from forfeiture but is now in some doubt from the recent case of Pineport Limited v Grangeglen Limited, where the court granted relief upon an application made some 14 months after forfeiture.