|
|||
Volume 1, August 2011 |
|||
Fast Facts: What is Your Landlord Hiding in the Fine Print? When you are considering leasing an office, retail, flex or warehouse space or any space for that matter, you want to go in to it with eyes wide open. The following will help you understand what to consider and hopefully help make your experience with leasing space a better one! Students of history recall the stories of the landlord abuse that occurred in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s when tenant farming, mining towns and tenant exploitation were common. Fortunately, these situations have been largely extinguished in the US, but adversarial feelings between landlord and tenant remain. Is landlord abuse prevalent today when leasing space? Are they truly ogres? Or does the modern media sensationalize a few occurrences to feed this perception?
In our experience, most landlords are reasonable and fair. However, since they know the tools of the trade, often they get the upper hand in the lease agreement and structure contracts to their advantage. Many tenants, surprised by requirements of their lease after they move in, develop an “us vs. them” attitude.
Tenants can level the playing field by taking a few minutes to unravel the “legalese” of the lease agreement before signing. Often a 20+ page document, however, makes this a daunting task– unless you know what to look for. Here are 4 costs that some landlords quietly shift to tenants and what tenants can do to protect themselves:
Tenant Protection: Negotiate a limit on contributions to HVAC repairs - $500 per year for example. Check replacement language – it isn’t uncommon for tenants to receive a $3,000 bill for a replacing a 15 year old system when they’ve only occupied the space for two years.
Again, most landlords are fair. If you are billed
for an unexpected expense, contact your landlord.
Compromise may be possible. Often, they aren’t the
ogres they are reported to be. |
|||
|
|||
|