With billions contributed to Florida’s economy each year, Florida commercial real estate is big business. As a business, signing a commercial lease can be a competitive venture. As a result, real estate investors are looking to make the most of their property with leases that are most favorable to them.
As a potential tenant, you need to negotiate the contained terms. Having a real estate attorney representing you’d during this process provides you with several benefits.
1. Level the Playing Field
It is safe to assume that the party you are negotiating with has legal representation. Hiring your own attorney helps to level the playing field so that you are negotiating with the same skill and knowledge level.
The assumption in the legal system is that you have an attorney representing your interests. This becomes important later if you ever enter litigation over the lease. Unlike residential leases, commercial leases are not standardized, and there are fewer consumer protections available under the law.
2. Understand the Terms
There are several terms that you may not be familiar with. For example, full service vs. net, ADA, code compliance, environmental, and HVAC. There are also terms that outline your right as the tenant to assignment, subletting, expansion, and alterations. Your attorney can explain what these terms mean and how they affect you as the tenant.
Once you have an understanding, you can discuss with the attorney how you want to negotiate. Your attorney can help you decide which are the most important to you and which ones you can compromise on.
3. Future Financial Protection
Traditionally, most commercial leases heavily favor the landlord. Blindly signing the lease that your future landlord provides can put you in an unfavorable position. As you move forward in the lease, you may find that the terms are financially unfavorable towards your business. This can hinder your business’ growth and expansion.
Should a conflict arise between you and the landlord, you may find the lease terms unfavorable to your desired remedy. Unfortunately, this leaves you stuck in a lease agreement that you are unhappy with.
4. Competition Protections
The landlord is interested in leasing out their commercial space. You are interested in the growth and success of your business. These interests can compete with each other. Your attorney can advocate for your company’s best interests. This means negotiating to include restrictions and protections to prevent the landlord from leasing adjacent commercial spaces to your competitors.
Your attorney will negotiate with the landlord for how restrictive the terms will be. You’ll want to exclude all potential competition and keep the terms broad. The landlord will want to keep the restrictions narrow to retain as much freedom as possible for placing tenants.
5. Legally Correct
Don’t blindly trust the lease contract that the landlord provides you. You don’t know where this lease originated or who prepared it. Without the assistance of an attorney, you could sign a contract that is wholly unenforceable or contains terms that are not legally compliant.
As part of the negotiation process, your attorney will review the contract in its entirety. This gives them an opportunity to identify possible issues with the legality of the terms and the contract as a whole.
Hire an Attorney to Assist with Your Commercial Lease Negotiations
As you can see, hiring an attorney to negotiate your commercial least is in your best interest. Having legal representation presents a professional and sophisticated image to the property owner. This levels the playing field for negotiations.
Your attorney can explain the terms contained in the lease and advise on the best terms to negotiate for. They can also review the terms to protect your business’s future and ensure that all of the terms are legally enforceable.
Schedule a consultation today with one of our skilled attorneys.
