Brooks Brothers Can Skip Rent After Judge Rejects Landlord Claim

Landlords lost a bankruptcy fight to force Brooks Brothers to start paying rent now that the suit retailer is free from most pandemic restrictions.

• U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi in Wilmington, Delaware gave the clothier permission to withhold about $14 million in rent for August and September, finding that the economic crisis isn’t over just because many states have allowed retailers to reopen
• Before Sontchi ruled, landlord attorneys said they feared that if Brooks Brothers could skip rent payments, other bankrupt retailers would try to do the same
• Sontchi rejected arguments that Brooks Brothers was refusing to reopen stores simply ...