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Business Tenancies (Fair Dealings) Act 2003
54Key-money on assignment prohibited
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54 Key-money on assignment prohibited
accept key-money in connection with the granting of consent to the
assignment of a retail shop lease.
granting of consent to the assignment of the lease.
(3) If a person contravenes subsection (1) then, whether or not the
person is found guilty of an offence against that subsection, the
tenant is entitled to recover from the landlord as a debt:
(a) a payment made by; or
(b) the value of any benefit conferred by;
Business Tenancies (Fair Dealings) Act 2003 42
the tenant or assignee and accepted by or on behalf of the landlord
in contravention of this section.
(4) This section does not prevent a landlord:
(a) requiring payment by the tenant or assignee of a reasonable
sum for legal or other expenses incurred in connection with
the assignment of the lease; or
(c) securing performance of the assignee's obligations under the
lease by requiring the provision of a bond, security deposit or
a guarantee from the assignee or another person (such as a
requirement that the directors of a company that is the
assignee guarantee performance of the company's obligations
under the lease); or
(d) seeking and accepting, from a purchaser of the business,
payment for goodwill of a business, but only to the extent that
the goodwill is attributable to the conduct of the business by
the landlord; or
(e) seeking and accepting payment for plant, equipment, fixtures
or fittings that are sold by the landlord to the tenant or
assignee in connection with the granting of consent to the
assignment of the lease; or
(f) seeking and accepting payment for the grant of a franchise in
connection with the granting of consent to the assignment of
the lease.