First Department Affirms Dismissal of Guaranty Claims Against CLM Client Mark Wiltzer

On October 1, 2026, the Appellate Division, First Department, unanimously affirmed the dismissal of claims against Mark Wiltzer, of Mark Edwards Apparel, a Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP client and personal guarantor of a Manhattan retail lease, in 62 Wooster, LLC v. TML New York Inc. The landlord had sought more than $300,000 in unpaid rent, plus liquidated damages and enforcement costs. Litigation partner Alex Malyshev led the CLM team.   

The lease, for premises at 476 Broome Street, ran through June 2025. The tenant gave written notice and surrendered the premises in September 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The landlord then sued the guarantors for rent and damages through expiration of the lease.

The lease contained two conflicting guaranties.  The surrender clause provided that the guarantors’ liability ended once the tenant gave notice and vacated the premises, while a separate “good guy” clause purported to preserve liability for rent and damages through the lease’s expiration. Relying on the Court of Appeals’ decision in 1995 CAM LLC v. West Side Advisors, LLC, 45 N.Y.3d 150 (2025), the panel rejected the landlord’s argument that the good guy clause overrode the surrender clause, because that reading would render the surrender clause meaningless. Because the landlord drafted the documents, the ambiguity was resolved against it, and liability ended on September 30, 2020.

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