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If you’ve ever experienced a situation where a tenant has vacated its space, you might have been tempted to make use of that portion of your property while you pursue claims against the tenant for breaching its lease. But that could be a big mistake. A tenant could allege, and a court could agree, that by using the space for your benefit you’ve lost your chance to pursue your claims against the tenant that would allow you to collect monetary damages. A recen...
Tenants often seek financing to help them run their businesses, so you have probably gotten numerous requests from tenants for a “landlord’s lien waiver.” Without the lien waiver, a tenant’s lender may refuse to go through with the loan, or an equipment lessor may refuse to lease expensive equipment to the tenant. A lien waiver typically states that you agree to waive a valuable right—that is, the right to take possession of the tenant&rsqu...
Like many owners, you may have certain tenants that commit the same lease violation over and over. But they always cure—that is, correct—the violation before it becomes a lease default. For instance, they repeatedly pay their rent late each month.
If the office building you own has multiple common areas and some meeting spaces that are reserved specifically for certain tenants that are usually available for use, they are likely a selling point for some tenants. But if the building is undergoing work to update and refresh those spaces while you’re negotiating leases with several tenants, you might be concerned that if the work continues past the point where they expect to be able to start using these spaces,...
Commercial property owners know that having a visible and successful restaurant is not only lucrative, but also can be an amenity that improves the image of the property and provides an essential service to residents and other tenants or occupants of an office building, shopping center, or mixed-use project, not to mention the local community. However, a large number of all new restaurants close after only one year of operation. And this rate greatly increases after thr...
Assignments can work in both a commercial property owner’s and tenant’s favor in certain circumstances. But there also are times when an assignment could be harmful. For example, if you’ve found a tenant that’s perfect for your retail space, but because of the synergy you’ve created among tenants at the shopping center, it’s crucial that this tenant mustn’t assign its lease to any type of business that deviates from what it is s...
Sometimes, in addition to the lease itself, a tenant and owner will sign a common area maintenance agreement. If that’s called for, be very careful about making sure that the terms in both documents match. Otherwise, any ambiguity could lead to a court battle. That was the case for a movie theater tenant and owner in Washington.
Don’t be surprised if a prospective tenant asks you to give it early access to its space before all aspects of your deal are finalized. Some tenants are confident that their financing will go through and that other issues will be resolved without incident. A common reason in retail leasing for tenants to ask for the right to get into the space early is to avoid delays in opening. While it makes sense, and you might want to accommodate a tenant that brings somethin...
Some commercial tenants require certain amenities and they won’t sign leases for space if they don’t get them. But you may be concerned about what would happen if you have to get rid of amenities. So how can you carve out a right to eliminate amenities in the future if it becomes necessary?
The typical American shopping mall landscape has changed drastically—and for the worse—in recent years, in large part because nearly every item sold from a traditional brick-and-mortar store can be purchased online. Consumers who would rather devote time to things other than driving to a mall have benefitted. The retail behemoth Amazon.com even promises to deliver packages in two days. That has left lower end centers and malls in trouble.
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