Feature

Get 6 Lease Protections When Giving Tenants Expansion Options

November 23, 2021    
In this era of post-COVID-19 uncertainty, commercial tenants are increasingly reluctant to lock themselves into spaces of fixed dimensions over the entire lease term. Their driving imperative is flexibility. In the early days of the pandemic, as telecommuting shrank the need for space, flexibility...
Related Tools: Let Tenants Expand Leased Space in a Way that Protects Your Interests
Traps to Avoid

'Prevailing Party' Attorneys' Fees Clauses Don't Work for Mixed Ruling Cases

November 23, 2021    
Litigation is expensive, but it’s often unavoidable. Consequently, most landlords seek to ensure they can recover their legal costs if they have to take the tenant to court to enforce the lease.
Dos & Don'ts

Don't Make Defaulting Tenant Guess on Months of Nonpayment

November 23, 2021    
Don’t send tenants a default notice for nonpayment of rent that doesn’t specifically identify the months. Failing to list the months of nonpayment in the notice may cost you your right to evict the tenant or terminate the lease.
Dos & Don'ts

Call All Tenant Payments ‘Rent’ or ‘Additional Rent’

November 23, 2021    
Landlords should make it a point of emphasis to ensure that the lease describes all tenant payments and charges as either “rent” or “additional rent.” While it might seem like a legal technicality, using these terms ensures you access to fast-track eviction if the tenant...
Owner Wins

Tenant's Control of Parking Lot Makes Accident Work-Related

November 23, 2021    
What Happened: A 70-year-old supermarket employee who just finished her shift stepped into a pothole while walking to her car. The workers comp board rejected her claim for benefits. Citing provisions in the supermarket’s lease making the landlord responsible for maintaining the shopping...
Owner Wins

Expedited Holdover Eviction Available Even When Lease Terminates Early

November 23, 2021    
What Happened: Two years into its five-year term, a tenant leasing space for use as an airport hangar exercised its right to terminate early, without penalty, upon 180 days’ notice. The plan was for the tenant to remain in the space until the sides reached agreement on a new lease for a...
Owner Wins

Temporary COVID Closure Order Doesn’t Excuse Tenant’s Failure to Pay Rent

November 23, 2021    
What Happened: A fitness center tenant that had to close down temporarily in response to the governor’s COVID-19 pandemic closure orders remained in its space but didn’t pay rent for the time it was closed. The landlord sued, and the tenant relied on the lease force majeure clause and a...
Feature

A Three-Phase Strategy for Leasing to Pop-Up Tenants

October 22, 2021    
Nontraditional, short-term stores have been popping up in malls, shopping centers, department stores, and other retail settings for over a decade. While generally less desirable than long-term tenants, pop-ups offer landlords the opportunity to pocket extra cash on vacant or non-rent-generating...
Plugging Loopholes

Make Tenants Who Leave Space Unrentable Pay Consequential Damages

October 21, 2021    
It happens to countless landlords, and sooner or later, it’s bound to happen to you. A tenant moves out at the end of the lease. You take possession of the property and discover that it’s in a totally unrentable condition. The good news is that your lease probably requires the tenant to...
Pop Quiz

Using 'Bundled' Sales to Circumvent a Tenant's Right of First Refusal

October 19, 2021    
While it normally doesn’t disrupt the lease, the sale of leased property can be disconcerting to tenants. That’s why some tenants negotiate for first refusal rights giving them the option to purchase the property at the same price and terms the landlord accepts from a third-party...
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