Chances are, your standard lease form includes one or more provisions requiring the tenant to exercise some kind of “efforts” to achieve a desired but uncertain result or outcome.
Getting tenants to leave their space when the lease ends can be a difficult and costly proposition. For one thing, you may have to initiate an eviction suit to get the tenant out. And if you’ve already re-rented the space, holdovers expose you to the risk of being sued by the new tenant...
In these uncertain times, securing rock solid assurances against tenant default is of paramount importance. The challenge is great. COVID-19 has left many tenants strapped for cash and unable to scrape together a security deposit. As a result, landlords are having to ask for third-party...
Don’t ease up on your efforts to re-rent space that a tenant has vacated early—even if the tenant is doing its own search for somebody to take over its rent obligations. While spending your own time and money might seem like a needless reduplication of effort, sitting back and...
Before notifying a tenant that it’s in default, be sure to check the lease to see if it includes any special requirements. If so, follow those requirements to the letter, or you could end up losing your eviction and other remedy rights.
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.
The size, look, style, and content of the exterior signs listing a building’s name and tenants can have a significant impact on not only a property’s marketability and curb appeal but also on the landlord’s image and reputation. That’s why landlords should seek to...
Before signing a lease with a partnership or corporation, get proof that the business is a valid legal entity and that it’s taken the necessary partnership or corporate action to allow it to enter the lease. Otherwise, you may have a hard time enforcing the lease. The risk: If the...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
