WRNJ

[A Joseph Ross]

This isn't my area of law, but I don't see how Ed Perry, who does not 
own the station, has any rent obligation on the tower.  Nor do I see how 
trying to purchase the station license would constitute interference 
with the contract.  The current owners are already in breach of the 
lease by not paying rent, and if Ed Perry purchases the station, he 
might be interested in using the transmitter site and paying the rent 
for it going forward.  Or perhaps they can make a deal of some sort for 
Perry to use the site and pay a reduced rent.  I guess I understand why 
they're suing him, because sometimes you just sue everyone in site and 
sort it out later, but I have trouble seeing where he would be liable 
for anything.

On 1/20/2018 2:48 AM, Garrett Wollman wrote:
> <<On Sat, 20 Jan 2018 02:03:03 -0500, A Joseph Ross <joe@attorneyross.com> said:
>
>> Why would they be suing Ed Perry?
> Because Ed Perry is trying to buy the 1510 license.  You'd probably
> know better than the rest of us what they'd have to plead to keep him
> as a defendant -- I assume it's something like interfering with their
> contract with Daly XXL, maybe claiming that Perry somehow induced Daly
> XXL not to go through with the planned auction (which was to include
> an assignment of the tower site lease) which "might" have brought in
> more cash / left Daly XXL with enough assets to satisfy all of its
> obligations.  (I'm assuming, based on the way it went down, that the
> auction didn't take place because the broker running it had not
> received any expressions of interest in buying the whole station, but
> Perry submitted an offer for the license alone.)
>
> One question is whether Daly is actually the party on the lease, or if
> Daly sublet the facility from Blackstrap.  That might explain why
> Blackstrap was also joined.
>
> Normally, in a situation like this, you might expect Daly XXL's
> creditors to file for involuntary bankruptcy.  However, if Daly
> actually went into bankruptcy, they could simply reject the lease --
> and Duffy surely must know that the site is of no use to anyone other
> than 1510.[1]  Furthermore, they must also know that if the station
> remains off the air for another six months, its license simply
> *evaporates*, poof, by operation of law, and then the most they can
> expect is some share of whatever cash or other assets Daly might have.
>
> So my guess would be that they know that their time is up, and they're
> hoping to squeeze a few more dollars out of *someone* -- possibly Ed
> Perry -- as a price for allowing the transaction to close before the
> license expiration clock runs out later this year.  Basically, Daly
> XXL and Duffy are playing "chicken".
>
> -GAWollman
>
> [1] Not quite true: it could be used by 1430, 1470, or 1550, but none
> of them has an interest in moving and even if they did, there is
> absolutely no chance they'd pay the sort of rent that 1510 is
> currently on the hook for.
>
>

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A. Joseph Ross, J.D. · 1340 Centre Street, Suite 103 · Newton, MA 02459
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