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Negotiate the Best Lease for Your Business

by Attorney Janet Portman & Attorney Fred S. Steingold

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Summary

When it comes to business, there is no standard lease!

Ready to haggle for the best deal possible? Turn to Negotiate the Best Lease for Your Business -- you’ll find the information, advice and strategies you need when negotiating with an experienced landlord.

This practical handbook explains how to analyze space needs, find the ideal location and then get the best possible terms. Learn how to:

• determine the real cost of renting
• keep future rent at manageable levels
• get the most out of your broker and attorney
• suggest alternatives to hefty security deposits
• allocate responsibility and cost of fixing up your space
• negotiate flexibility to expand, renew or leave early
• ensure costs are shared fairly among tenants
• avoid dealing with costly code compliance and clean-ups
• save your lease if you can't live up to it now and then

The 2nd edition provides new strategies and advice throughout, plus new checklists that will help you at every step of your negotiation.

Comprehensive and written in plain English, Negotiate the Best Lease for Your Business is essential for entrepreneurs on the hunt for a fair and workable lease.

Press Reviews

"Shows you how to rewrite the boilerplate you're presented with to get the most flexibility at the lowest cost." Accounting Today

"Relatively few books exist on negotiating commercial leases, and most only skim the process.... all advice and strategies needed to evaluate a commercial space and obtain a good lease is standard in Negotiate the Best Lease for Your Business." Bookwatch

"A fine book on leasing... Portman and Steingold have crafted a dandy book for the aspiring entrepreneur as well as a valuable reference book for the seasoned businessperson." Sacramento Business Journal

Table of Contents

Introduction

A. How Leases Are Made and What They Look Like
B. How This Book Can Help You Negotiate a Favorable Lease

Part I: Finding and Evaluating Space and Developing a Negotiation Strategy

1. What Kind of Space Do You Need?

A. Do You Need to Move Now?
B. Setting Your Priorities
C. Rent, Deposits, and Improvements
D. Location
E. Length of the Lease and When It Begins
F. Size and Physical Features
G. Other Tenants and Services in and Near the Building
H. Parking
I. Building Security
J. Image and Maintenance
K. Expansion or Purchase Potential
L. Preparing Your Rental Priorities Worksheet
M. Subleasing Space

2. Looking for Space and Using Brokers

A. How to Find Space on Your Own
B. Working With a Real Estate Broker
C. The Value of Hiring Your Own Broker
D. How to Find a Real Estate Broker
E. How to Choose a Broker
F. Signing a Contract With Your Broker
G. Handling Problems With Your Broker

3. Evaluating the Space and the Landlord

A. Visiting and Evaluating Prospective Space
B. Further Investigation of Promising Space
C. Environmental Issues to Consider When Evaluating Space
D. Learning About the Landlord
E. Management Companies
F. Holding the Space With a Deposit

4. Understanding the True Size and Cost of the Rental

A. How Landlords Measure Square Feet
B. Additional Rent: Gross Versus Net Leases
C. Percentage Rent-Sharing Income With the Landlord
D. Computing the True Rental Cost

5. Setting the Stage to Negotiate

A. How Much Clout Do You Have?
B. Your Landlord's Compliance With the Executive Order on Terrorism
C. Getting Past Deal Breakers
D. Letter of Intent
E. Finding and Paying for a Lawyer

6. Your Negotiation Strategy

A. Your Negotiation Strategy Worksheet
B. How to Use Your Negotiation Strategy Worksheet
C. How Your Lawyer Can Help With Negotiations
D. How to Modify the Landlord's Lease

Part II: Common Lease Terms

7. Lease Basics

A. Naming the Landlord and Tenant: Parties to the Lease
B. Describing the Leased Space
C. The Use Clause and Exclusive Clause

8. The Length of Your Lease

A. When Do Your Legal Responsibilities Begin and End?
B. The Crafty Use of "As of" [Date]
C. How to Keep Track of Dates With a Timeline
D. Staying After the Term Ends: Holdover Rent

9. Rent

A. Basic Rent
B. Taxes As Additional Rent
C. Insurance As Additional Rent
D. Operating and Common Area Maintenance Costs As Additional Rent
E. Audit Rights

10. Security Deposits

A. Where the Landlord Will Keep the Deposit
B. How the Landlord Will Use the Deposit
C. When the Landlord May Use the Deposit
D. The Fate of the Deposit at the End of the Lease
E. Letter of Credit: An Alternative to a Cash Deposit

11. Improvements and Alterations

A. Improvements Versus Trade Fixtures
B. Renting Space in a Building Under Construction
C. Improvements to Your Space
D. Paying for the Improvements
E. The Tenant Improvement Allowance (TIA)
F. The Building Standard Allowance, or "Build-Out"
G. Paying a Fixed Amount for Improvements
H. The Landlord Pays for All Improvements
I. When Do You Start Paying Rent?
J. Making Alterations During Your Tenancy

12. Maintenance, Utilities, and Code Compliance

A. Maintenance, Repairs, and Janitorial Services
B. Utilities
C. Compliance With Building Codes and Other Laws
D. Compliance With the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

13. Parking, Signs, Landlord's Entry, and Security

A. Parking
B. Hours of Operation
C. Signs
D. Landlord's Right to Enter Your Rental Space
E. Building Security

14. Option to Renew or Sublet and Other Flexibility Clause

A. Restrictions on Your Flexibility
B. Option to Renew the Lease
C. Option to Expand Clause
D. Rights of First Refusal and First Offer
E. Option to Lease Less
F. The Assignment and Sublet Clause
G. Termination Clause
H. Option to Purchase

15. Insurance Clauses

A. Property and Liability Insurance
B. Insuring Your Trade Fixtures and Inventory
C. Rental Interruption Insurance
D. Business Interruption Insurance
E. Leasehold Insurance
F. Waivers of Subrogation Rights
G. Indemnity or Hold Harmless Clause

16. Breaking the Lease, Disputes, and Attorney Fees

A. The Landlord's Remedies If You Fail to Pay Rent or Breach Another Lease Term
B. The "No Waiver" Clause
C. Your Remedies If the Landlord Breaches
D. Mediation and Arbitration
E. Attorney Fees

17. Foreclosures, Condemnations, Guarantors, and Other Clauses

A. Subordination and Attornment
B. Estoppel Certificates
C. The Condemnation Clause
D. Surrender Clause
E. The "Entire Agreement" Clause
F. The "Severability" or "Survival" Clause
G. Lease Guarantors
H. Signatures

Index

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