Watch Your Language

'Maintenance' Costs Pass-Through May Not Require Tenants to Pay for 'Security'

July 22, 2019    
Like many owners, you may require your tenants to pay a proportionate share of your operating costs in maintaining the common areas. If the intent is to include site security in these costs, you better spell it out; simply assuming that security is an implied part of “maintenance” costs...
Feature

Avoid Liability for ADA Accessibility Violations within Tenant’s Space

June 24, 2019    
Each year, literally thousands of private individuals file ADA lawsuits against landlords for money damages claiming their properties aren’t accessible to the disabled. In many of these cases, the alleged violation occurs not in the common areas but inside the tenant’s premises.
Related Tools: Require Tenant to Indemnify You for ADA Violations
Negotiating Tips

Count Installment Payments in Gross Sales as Early as Possible to Maximize Percentage Rent

June 24, 2019    
You’re negotiating a lease with a retail tenant that sells some goods on an installment basis in which customers make a series of payments over a period of time. How do you calculate these sales for purposes of calculating percentage rent? The tenant wants installment sales to count as...
Winners & Losers

Does Defective Notice Undermine an Otherwise Valid Eviction Case?

June 24, 2019    
When you set out to evict a tenant in default, delivering the actual notice may seem like a minor affair. But failing to follow the exact notice methods and deadlines set out in the lease can undermine your eviction suit. This is true even if the notice you do provide is loud and clear.
Owner Loses

Landlord Must Pay Tenant’s Attorney’s Fees

June 24, 2019    
What Happened: After bringing a successful anticipatory breach claim against it, a medical tenant sued the landlord for its legal fees citing the following lease provision:
Owner Loses

Landlord Can’t Sue Wal-Mart for Backing Out of Lease Negotiations

June 24, 2019    
What Happened: After years of fruitless negotiations, Wal-Mart decided to pull out of discussions for a long-term ground lease but didn’t notify the would-be landlord until months later. Having invested so much time and money in trying to secure the ground lease, the landlord went bankrupt....
Owner Wins

New Landlord Not Saddled with Rent Payment Waivers of Its Predecessor

June 24, 2019    
What Happened: A landlord sued to evict a physician tenant for not paying rent. While acknowledging that she was five months in arrears, the tenant noted that she had been allowed to pay late two years earlier without being charged late fees and that the landlord had thus waived its right to timely...
Owner Wins

No Lawsuit Until Landlord Gets Chance to Stop One Tenant from Violating Another’s Exclusive

June 24, 2019    
 What Happened: A Colorado shopping center leased 7,000 square feet of space to a tenant “for the purposes of operating indoor golf simulators, to include the sale of golf-related apparel, a ‘fast casual’ restaurant, and a bar.” News of the new occupant didn’t sit...
Feature

Get 15 Lease Protections When Tenants Use Letters of Credit Instead of Security Deposits

June 6, 2019    
As a means of securing a tenant’s obligations under the lease, a letter of credit (LC) offers distinct advantages over a cash security deposit. The landlord’s underlying assumption is that if the tenant defaults, drawing on the LC will be as easy and automatic as making a withdrawal...
Related Tools: Use Lease Clause to Set Letter of Credit Requirements
Traps to Avoid

Agreeing to Agree Isn’t Enough to Lock in a Lease Renewal

June 6, 2019    
It’s hard to determine today how much rent to charge a tenant for a lease renewal (or extension) that won’t happen until years later. It may be tempting to skirt this problem by providing for the renewal at an unspecified rent “to be negotiated” or “agreed to” in...
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