Commercial Lease Lawyer
Finding the right property is crucial for the success of your business whether you own a diner, a store, or are just looking for office space. However, whether a property or location works for your business relies to a large extent on the lease agreement. The lease agreement determines how long you will be able to stay in that location, how the property will be maintained, and can even affect the profits you make. An experienced commercial lease lawyer can review your lease contract to ensure that is fair to you.
Be Careful About The Lease Agreement
Landlords often draft leases that heavily favor their interests not your-tenant- interests. They may include a few provisions that seem favorable to the tenant’s interests, but some may actually be unfair or unlawful. Since commercial lease agreements have many pages and are often written in technical legal language, only a lawyer that completely understands commercial real estate law can spot the unfair terms included in the agreement. Your commercial lease attorney can help you avoid the adverse effects of unfair lease agreements.
When you are leasing space or equipment, you will need to sign an agreement with the property or equipment owner. Only sign a lease agreement that clearly spells out the terms of the lease in writing. The terms should not be ambiguous to avoid being billed for charges that have nothing to do with the space you leased. Review the contract to see how utility bills, maintenance, rent increases and so on will be handled. You don’t want to make your business vulnerable to unfair or incomplete lease agreements. Your commercial lease lawyer can negotiate a lease agreement with your best interests in mind.
Harmful Provisions In Commercial Leases
Some of the common unfavorable provisions in commercial lease agreements include the following:
- Inaccurate descriptions of the property: Some landlords develop their own methods of measuring rentable area, which may result in you ending up with a space that is larger or smaller than you imagined.
- Early lease termination: A landlord may include a provision in the lease that allows the landlord to terminate the lease early, but does not allow you to do the same.
- Operating expenses: Make sure your lease does not pass certain expenses to you. These include expenses such as property taxes, electricity for tenant spaces, initial repair bills, structural repairs or replacements. There many other expenses that your landlord can try to pass to you through a lease.
- Use clauses: A lease may also place limitation on how you can use a space. For instance, if your business uses heavy machinery but the lease does not allow for heavy machinery, your landlord may claim you are in breach of the lease agreement. So read the use clauses to see what type of devices or machinery or type of business is not allowed.
- Liability on the lease: Make sure the lease does not place person liability on the lease on you as the owner of the business if you are running an LLC or corporation. This is to protect your personal property and bank accounts from the landlord in case your business runs into debt and you cannot pay your commercial rent.
