{"id":1222,"date":"2016-05-16T11:20:16","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T16:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dolly.com\/blog\/?p=1222"},"modified":"2026-04-28T07:52:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:52:59","slug":"signing-commercial-lease-heres-protect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/signing-commercial-lease-heres-protect\/","title":{"rendered":"Signing a Commercial Lease? Here&#8217;s How to Protect Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re a <a title=\"How to Start or End a Business\" href=\"https:\/\/dolly.com\/blog\/start-or-end-a-business-state-links\" target=\"_blank\">new business owner<\/a>, you may not realize that a commercial lease is\u00a0entirely different beast than its\u00a0more familiar residential counterpart. This is because state governments have a vested interest in making sure that private citizens aren\u2019t swindled by unscrupulous landlords, but they generally assume that business owners are equally as sophisticated and able to negotiate favorable lease terms as are commercial property owners.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a general rule, leases for retail stores and manufacturing facilities tend to be much more complex than those covering simple office space, but regardless of what type of space you need to lease, you should take a few steps to protect yourself:<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Realize That Most States Don&#8217;t Regulate Commercial Leases<\/h2>\n<p>Residential rental agreements are regulated by each state\u2019s Landlord Tenant Act, and therefore, tend to be highly standardized. Commercial leases, however, are largely unregulated, and therefore terms and provisions may vary greatly from one contract to the next. You\u2019ll need to read your lease agreement carefully, as what appears to be standardized \u201cboilerplate\u201d text may actually contain terms that substantially impact the scope of your rights and responsibilities as a tenant.<\/p>\n<h2>Engage a Tenant Broker &amp; a Lawyer<\/h2>\n<p>New commercial tenants may not realize that they can engage their own broker, whose fees will be paid by the landlord if a rental agreement is successfully reached. The landlord\u2019s broker naturally has the landlord\u2019s best interests at heart, whereas engaging your own broker can help ensure that you see all potential properties on the market that might meet your needs. You broker can also put his or her knowledge of general market conditions to use in helping you negotiate concessions and rates.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Engaging a lawyer will help ensure you don\u2019t get caught by any \u201cgotchas\u201d in the fine print. Lawyers can also help verify that your business activities comply with local zoning regulations before you sign on the dotted line.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Detail Property Alterations<\/h2>\n<p>Unless the property in question is a small office space, commercial landlords generally expect that tenants will need to make modifications to a given property to suit their exact needs. You\u2019ll want to precisely list out all changes that will be made\u2014including any signage you want to add, who will be in charge of design, and who is responsible for paying for any improvements, in an \u201cImprovements and Alterations\u201d clause.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll also want to specify which equipment, furniture, and signage you plan to take with you when you leave. These are known as \u201ctrade fixtures,\u201d and you may be required to return the property to its original condition if you remove anything substantial.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Finally, depending on what type of business you run and the space you\u2019re looking at, you may need to make sure that you\u2019ll be able to run high-speed internet cable through common areas into your establishment.<\/p>\n<h2>Understand What Your Total Costs\u00a0Will Be<\/h2>\n<p>Are you signing a \u201cgross\u201d lease, or a \u201cnet\u201d lease? The former means your rent payment covers all costs associated with the property, including property taxes, insurance, and maintenance for the space and for any common areas. \u201cNet\u201d leases, on the other hand, leave some or all of these costs to the tenant.<\/p>\n<p>Another thing to understand is how much your monthly payment will go up, at what intervals, during the course of the lease. Your lease should include a schedule for any \u201crent escalations\u201d that will occur.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll also want to be clear on what your security deposit covers and how to get it back.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Leave Yourself an Out<\/h2>\n<p>If your business is relatively new, you\u2019ll likely want to avoid signing a lease with a term of five years or more. Instead, see if you can negotiate a short-term lease with renewal options. While you may get fewer concessions from the landlord, paying more up front will likely be preferable to being on the hook for a hefty rent payment for several years to come. If you do end up signing a multi-year lease, see if you can include a clause that allows you to sublease the space if you find a tenant that meets the landlord\u2019s criteria.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a title=\"Moving Office Furniture: Get a Quote\" href=\"https:\/\/dolly.com\/officemove\/\" target=\"_blank\">Moving Office Furniture? Get an Up-front Price.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re a new business owner, you may not realize that a commercial lease is\u00a0entirely different beast than its\u00a0more familiar residential counterpart. This is because state governments have a vested interest in making sure that private citizens aren\u2019t swindled by unscrupulous landlords, but they generally assume that business owners are equally as sophisticated and able [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[644937427],"tags":[644937594,644937595,644937596],"class_list":["post-1222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-moving","tag-commercial-lease","tag-negotiate-terms-for-commercial-lease","tag-tenants-rights-commercial-lease"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Signing a Commercial Lease? 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