Jennifer Bruton and Patrice Stavile published “Commercial Office Lease Drafting and Negotiation – Tenant Pitfalls to Avoid” in the November/December issue of ABA magazine, Property & Probate. The following is an excerpt:
This article sets out certain key provisions in a commercial office lease that are and should be negotiable, explains both the ramifications of the typical provisions and workable alternatives to those provisions, and identifies key tenant rights that should be added or addressed.
In a commercial lease negotiation, the landlord’s counsel will supply the initial draft of the lease, which will usually be very landlord friendly. For instance, counsel will find that there will be no concept of landlord default and few provisions, if any, imposing obligations upon the landlord. The lease document will obligate the tenant to pay rent, come hell or high water, Commercial Office Lease Drafting and Negotiation—Tenant Pitfalls to Avoid often specifically without exception for any failure of the landlord to perform. Any relief for events of force majeure will be entirely one-sided and will never excuse the tenant’s payment of rent, but will excuse any performance by the landlord. Even the failure of the landlord to deliver the premises on time or in the agreed-upon condition (which the lease often states as being “as-is”) or the failure of the landlord to provide essential services, utilities, or access often will not trigger any rights for the tenant.
Click here to read the full article.