Landlords left in limbo by court ruling on Ernst. (bankruptcy court approval for Ernst Home Center Inc.)

When Ernst Home Center Inc. won bankruptcy court approval to liquidate its 53 remaining stores, it also got the nod to delay decisions on its most valuable assets the leases.

Ernst's landlords may have to wait until late March to sign new tenants for approximately 76 sites across the Pacific Northwest. In some cases, Ernst is the anchor tenant of a shopping center.

"We are in jeopardy of losing big shopping-center transactions because of these delays," attorney Neil Radick said at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Seattle last week. Radick represents TCW Realty in Los Angeles, the landlord for two of Ernst's stores.

But Judge Karen Overstreet offered …