Understand every lease before you sign it. Plain English guides to clauses, deposits, renewals, and the terms that matter most.
When the air conditioning dies in August or the furnace gives out in January, the first argument is about comfort. The second argument, and the more expensive one,...
Leases impose detailed obligations on tenants, and tenants who break them face swift consequences. The reverse gets less attention: what happens when the landlord breaks its promises. A...
When the heat cuts out in January or the water stops running on a Sunday morning, a service interruption moves from inconvenience to crisis fast. For tenants, the...
Your lease expired last week. Your new space is not ready for another month. The landlord just informed you that holdover rent is 200 percent of your old...
You hand back the keys, the space swept and empty. Two weeks later the landlord sends a bill for 8,000 dollars: repainting, carpet cleaning, and patching walls. You...
Your lease is ending in 60 days. You installed custom lighting, built a reception area, and painted the walls in your brand colors. Now the landlord says you...
The city announces it is taking your building through eminent domain to widen the highway. Your lease still has four years to run, and your landlord just received...
An exclusivity clause promises that the landlord will not lease space in the same property to a competing business. For a specialty retailer or a medical practice, that...
A radius clause stops a retail tenant from opening another location within a certain distance of the leased premises. Shopping center landlords use these clauses to keep the...
Businesses evolve, and leased space must sometimes evolve with them. A tenant that signed a lease for a bookstore may want to add a cafe, or an office...