Plugging Loopholes

Limit Owner's Alterations Right

March 27, 2013    

Most leases give the owner broad rights to alter or rearrange the building’s or center’s common areas, including entrances, passageways, corridors, doorways, stairs, elevators, and other public parts of the building or center. But while making such alterations, the owner may decide...

Require Written Notice that Space Is Restored

January 29, 2013    

 

Recent weather-related disasters and storm damage across the country have shut down many office buildings and shopping centers temporarily—and some permanently. As a result, commercial tenants and owners are even more focused on the importance of lease terms that divvy up...

Give Heed to Five Commonly Overlooked Lease Clauses

August 15, 2012    

Understanding the terms of a lease you’re negotiating can be overwhelming, especially if it’s the first time you’re renting commercial space. It’s important to focus on carving out your rights for basic lease terms, but don’t forget to address commonly overlooked...

Exclude Six Types of Charges from CAM Costs Definition

May 20, 2010    

As the economy worsened, commercial real estate owners were, on occasion, willing to make more generous tenant concessions than in the past. However, owners that are struggling as much as their tenants may try to increase rent by broadly defining common area maintenance (CAM) costs in leases to...

Make Five Modifications to Owner's Holdover Clause

April 20, 2010    

By Mark Morfopoulos, Esq.

Especially in today's economy, it's hard to blame commercial property owners for taking every precaution they can to protect themselves against damage from holdover tenants that refuse to vacate after their leases have expired. For example, a...

Insurance Procurement Clause Doesn't Trump Indemnification Provisions

February 22, 2010    

Most commercial leases contain an indemnification clause specifying whether and for what amount of money a tenant and owner must indemnify one another when they are sued. A lease may also include an insurance procurement clause that requires the owner and tenant to insure specific areas of the...

Post Signs Notifying Shoppers of Your Relocation

May 21, 2009    

Whether you're an office or a retail tenant, it's disruptive to your business if an owner wants or needs to relocate you to another space in the building or center, either permanently or temporarily. But relocation creates a special problem for retail tenants: How will shoppers find them...

Get Co-Tenant Roster to Monitor Occupancy

February 1, 2009    

With so many retailers going out of business, operating tenants are looking to their co-tenant provisions for protection, says Camilla Titterington, senior counsel of PetSmart, Inc. The provision usually offers a rent reduction or allows you to cancel your lease if the occupancy rates fall below...

Taxes: Specify the Ones You Will and Won't Pay

September 30, 2008    

In June 2008, Discover Pacific Beach, a San Diego, Calif., business development association, approached the local city council with the idea of requiring commercial and residential property owners to pay special taxes to fund maintenance and security on the streets of their trendy commercial...

Keep Control over Performance Kickout Right

August 31, 2008    

The changing economy is quickly turning the commercial real estate market into one that favors the tenant. Since you currently have the upper hand in a volatile, risky market, if you plan on signing a new lease or renegotiating your existing lease, now may be a good time to exercise your...

Don't Let Owner Pass Through Unrecovered Parking Lot Costs

August 31, 2008    

If the building where you lease or are considering leasing space has its own parking facility, more than likely the owner is charging a fee and making money from the operation. But regardless of how profitable the facility is, the owner may still try to pass through to you all of the costs to...

Strengthen Go-Dark Right, Using Disclaimer

August 31, 2008    

If your business is struggling financially, going dark might be the best option for you. Lots of tenants decide to go this route, only to find out that their lease doesn't allow it. Likewise, you might think that you're not required to operate continuously, because your lease doesn't...

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