For more information  tenants should contact a licensed commercial real estate tenant  rep in his/her  area.


Since  1994 I have been representing Buyers/Tenants. My focused  specialty is solely  driven to advocate for Tenants and Buyers of Commercial Real   Estate. My  services include Tenant Rep, leasing and purchasing negotiations of all  types-renewals,  relocations, renegotiations,  terminations and Real Estate  Investment acquisitions/dispositions on a  local, regional, national and  international basis through a network of RE/MAX  Commercial offices around the  world.

The  lease that you and your landlord sign defines your legal  relationship. Your lease will be one of the most important legal documents you  will ever  have.  

What  does the lease do?
It contractually binds you to the terms.  More specifically:The lease is a contract in which:  You agree to pay  rent for a certain period of time.  You agree to abide by other  conditions.  Your landlord agrees to let your business occupy the space for a set amount of time.  Your landlord may agree to physically alter the  space to fit your business



Usually the Commercial Tenantwill start the search for a space.
Typically, a business owner starts the process by spotting a space available in a desirable area. Instead of seeking the advice of a Tenant Rep. the business  owner contacts the leasing broker listed on the property. Unfortunately, many  business owners do not realize that the listing agent has a fiduciary  responsibility to represent the landlord.



The landlord process.
Typically, you'll be working with a lease form  that's been written by the landlord’s agent or the landlord's lawyer. You  can be sure that neither one of them will be looking out for your best  legal  interests. In order to avoid being raked over the coals, you need to  retain your own Tenant Rep. to learn about the terms of the lease.

 
 There are no standard leases.
Contrary to what a landlord may  have you believe, there is no such thing as a state promulgated "standard"  commercial lease. Any commercial lease can be modified. An experienced Tenant  Rep. will help negotiate the best terms for you and not the landlord. He/she is  trained to find comparable properties and provide you with an analysis of rent  cost in your area. Your Tenant Rep.’s knowledge of lease clauses and the market  will determine the success of the lease negotiation.  The landlord is only  limited to make concession  subject to his current ender and  insurance obligations.


Your lawyer will help decipher the meaning of lease clauses.
Leases are  full of legalese. Lawyers often dress up lease clauses in dense legal verbiage  or burden them with mile-long sentences. Your Tenant rep. will recommend real  estate attorneys in your area experienced in lease negotiations.

DUAL REPRESENTATION BROKERAGE IS THE REAL ESTATE  BROKERAGE INDUSTRY’S  “800 pound  gorilla”
 
Dual agency occurs when one commercial real  estate company represents both  the  tenant and the landlord in a lease transaction. Sometimes it is one   individual on both sides. Other times it is two individuals within the  same   firm.

When you, the tenant,  use a dual agency, there’s an 800 lb. gorilla in the room that you   should  not ignore. Questioning  where the agency’s or individual’s loyalties  truly lie is an obvious issue. Is it  with you the business owner or with the   landlord?

Conflict of Interests
 
Every year tens of thousands of businesses are  misled by brokers whose true loyalty is to the landlord. This costly mistake  translates to higher rent, more overhead and less profits.  Many tenants negotiating a lease for office space, retail space or   industrial space and ignore the 800 lb. gorilla. They don’t talk about how a   major component of their future is affected by people whose loyalties lie   across the negotiating table—the dual rep broker and his true client, the   landlord.  The commercial real  estate market has traditionally tried to hide this dirty little secret.  But a growing group of tenants is  realizing that in the world of big commercial brokerage firms, the landlord  always wins. 

The landlord’s goals and objectives clearly conflict with the  tenant’s. Landlords are in the business of leasing and operating office
  buildings.  They know every trick  in the book and are very experienced. And their conduits are the landlord’s  brokers and agents. A broker who has a listing on a building also has a  fiduciary responsibility and contractual obligation to the landlord - not to  you.   How can that broker  fairly and adequately also represent the tenant?  The answer is that the broker can’t, no  matter how much marketing spin they might use to justify it.   An unsuspecting tenant doesn’t stand a chance when standing alone against  a dual-agency broker and his landlord.