Feature

Provide for 5 Contingencies in Your Assignment/Sublease Clause

March 23, 2023    
Boilerplate leases don’t usually address these scenarios.  
Plugging Loopholes

Hold New Tenant Financially Responsible for Construction Delays It Causes

March 23, 2023    
Delays are apt to occur any time you perform pre-move-in construction work for a new tenant. Such delays may result in your not being able to complete the work by the date the tenant is required to begin paying rent under the lease. To protect tenants in the event of such a contingency, leases...
Related Tools: Require Tenant to Pay for the Construction Delays It Causes
Pop Quiz

Is Tenant Liable to Landlord for Subtenant’s Lease Violation?

March 23, 2023    
Tenants are generally allowed to transfer their lease interests to a third party as long as the landlord is notified and provides consent in advance. The two basic ways to structure such arrangements are as:
Owner Wins

Court Sides with Landlord in He Said/She Said Eviction Case

March 23, 2023    
What Happened: In January 2021, a tenant signed an offer to purchase the building with closing to occur within 45 days. But after six months of unsuccessful negotiation, the deal fell through. The landlord then sued to evict the tenant for failing to pay rent for the period after the first three...
Owner Loses

Does New Two-Hour Parking Rule Unreasonably Impair Tenant’s Business?

March 23, 2023    
What Happened: With the shopping center almost entirely vacant, the landlord didn’t care all that much that a bridge club tenant was letting its customers park in the front and rear lots. But as new tenants began moving in, demand for parking space increased and the landlord had to tighten...
Owner Loses

Jury Must Decide If Tenant Breached Duty to Obtain Fire Insurance

March 23, 2023    
What Happened: An office lease required a home health agency tenant to obtain fire insurance on the “Premises.” The tenant got insurance for its property but not the building. The building burned down, and the landlord sued the tenant for damages. The court tossed the case, finding that...
Feature

Offer New Uses Rather than Rent Cuts for Tenants Adversely Affected by New Laws

February 23, 2023    
Perhaps the only positive aspect of the COVID-19 shutdowns, at least from a commercial leasing perspective, is how it made landlords aware of just how dependent on their tenants they are. The real winners of the pandemic were the landlords that found a way to work together with tenants to adjust...
Related Tools: Let Tenant Request Use Changes in Response to Adverse New Laws
Plugging Loopholes

Get Second Chance to Respond to Tenant’s Assignment or Sublease Request

February 23, 2023    
“Is my landlord going to drag its feet if I try to assign or sublet the lease?” That’s a question that has kept many a tenant lying awake in bed at night. Rather than risk a delay that might ultimately cost them the assignment or sublease, these tenants may insist on requiring the...
Related Tools: Get Reminder Notice of Deadline to Respond to Assignment/Sublease Request
Traps to Avoid

Ensure New Tenant’s Exclusive Doesn’t Conflict with Old Tenants’ Sales Rights

February 23, 2023    
Offering an exclusive can help you lure new tenants. But offering the wrong kind of exclusive can cost you a renewal. SNAFUs are apt to occur when you use a common form of exclusive stating that the tenant is the only tenant in the shopping center that’s allowed to sell a particular product....
Owner Loses

Jury Must Decide If Tenant’s Damages Go Beyond Ordinary Wear & Tear

February 23, 2023    
What Happened: A diesel-fuel vehicle repair business leased a building for use solely as an “equipment service and prep facility for fire trucks and other vehicles.” The problems began when the landlord’s manager discovered significant cracks in the building’s concrete. In...
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