Real Estate Transactions Attorney in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Commercial Lease Negotiation Advice

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Well, it depends on which side you’re on. First of all, both sides should read the lease. If you’re the landlord, you should have a good lease in place in the first place. We represent – and I represent – a lot of landlords, and we work really hard on the lease to make sure the form is good – I think fair; fair to the landlord first, but also fair.

I think totally one-sided documents are silly, and marginally insulting. So, you want a fair lease, but takes the landlord’s view into it if you’re drafting it for the landlord. If you’re a tenant, you want to read the lease hard, because the landlord got the first draft of the lease, right? They wrote it. So, you want to read it carefully and go, “Do I really want to live with these provisions? Is this really acceptable? Am I willing to have a provision that says I cannot park in the – overnight on the lot?” Well, what if you have a business that regularly leaves a van for your deliveries on the property? You’d be in violation of the lease. How are common area expenses being dealt with? Are you paying management fees you shouldn’t be paying?

So, from – you need to read it carefully, but especially if you’re the tenant coming in. And then, if the landlord, you should have read it before you gave it to them.

Minneapolis business attorney Stephen Yoch of Felhaber Larson discusses what someone entering a commercial lease should consider.

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