classification. Since this typically involves equipment
that’s very expensive, a mistake in classification may
result in substantial costs. An experienced property
lawyer can help draft a lease that will correctly
classify which items or property are intended to be
removed and which will remain at the property when
the lease ends.
2.Eviction and Related Clauses:
One of the longest parts of a commercial lease is
usually the drastic remedies available to the landlord
if the tenant doesn’t pay the monthly rental.
These remedies include eviction, the right to claim
damages for lost rental income, the right to specific
actions (to force the tenant to pay the rent even if
they’ve abandoned the property), and the right to
retain any deposit.
Regardless of what the lease says, while the
landlord is certainly entitled to evict a non-paying
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tenant and seek damages, they must also mitigate
such damages by actively seeking a replacement
tenant as soon as possible.
In commercial matters the eviction action
available to a landlord is usually a short process.
However, unlike residential evictions, where there are
a large number of statutory protections for tenants,
the commercial tenant is relatively unprotected by
law. The courts will usually allow the landlord to
retake the property, together with any fixtures.
Perhaps most detrimental to the commercial
tenant are “penalty” clauses in leases, often providing
that the tenant must pay a certain predetermined
amount if the lease is breached.
However, the enforceability of these clauses isn’t
always straightforward, as the courts often reduce
penalties where it’s demonstrated that the penalty
is out of proportion to the losses suffered by the
landlord.
Commercial Handbook 2016
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