Tenants – Check Your Leases Now!

Nov. 13, 2009 - PRLog -- Commercial property lawyer Alistair Millar, Director of a partner company in Tallents Solicitors in Southwell, says,

“It always amazes me at the vast number of tenants who never read their lease and familiarise themselves with the terms and obligations after it has been signed. As a result they frequently commit breaches of the terms of the lease through sheer ignorance of the obligations imposed on them. This can result in some hefty financial requests from their landlord.”

Alistair points out just a few of the provisions that tenants should be checking in their leases:

“One classic area is payment dates. Tenants often forget when they are supposed to pay the rent. If a payment is made slightly late the landlord might overlook this. However, as a result the next payment date is often calculated by reference to the previous late payment date. As a result the payment dates slip and the official payment dates in the lease are forgotten.

“Even if your landlord hasn’t made a formal complaint about the late payment, there are a couple of reasons why paying at the right time is important.

“For example, the lease will often state that late payments of rent are subject to increased rates of interest, typically at least 4%-5% above the base lending rate of a named bank. If you have allowed your rent payments to slip over time then you could be leaving yourself exposed to a significant interest claim by the landlord if it changes its stance on your late payment in the future.”

Alistair continues,

“Another area is at renewal. Often tenants will have a statutory right to renew a business lease. However, there are various grounds which entitle a landlord to oppose the grant of a new lease and by paying your rent late you are giving them an easy reason to deny a new lease.”

With many years experience in commercial property leasing, Alistair says that repairs are often a key area of dispute between tenants and landlords at lease renewal time.

He continues,

“It’s important to clarify which repairs are your responsibility and which are the landlord's. If the landlord is failing to carry out repairs then you can send a written reminder to the landlord pointing out the areas of disrepair. However, if you as the tenant are failing to carry out repairs, then you could leave yourself open to several nasty consequences: from a large bill for repairs from the landlord to a refusal to renew your lease.”

Alistair finishes,

“It makes good financial sense to review your lease regularly and we at Tallents are happy to spend time with our clients to make sure they understand their obligations. Some time spent now can save hundreds of pounds in the long run.”

…/ends

For more information, contact Tallents
2 Westgate, Southwell, 01636 813411

www.tallents.co.uk


ABOUT TALLENTS

Established in 1774 and with offices in Newark, Mansfield and Southwell, Tallents Solicitors services the legal needs of private individuals, company and commercial clients and farmers in North Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.

We still offer a personal service to our clients and our size and structure ensures that partners are never remote from our clients. We provide a full range of legal services and our expertise covers all areas of law including:

Agricultural law, criminal law, commercial and domestic property transactions, inheritance tax planning, trust and estate administration, wills and probate, commercial and general litigation, employment law, company and commercial law, intellectual property, matrimonial and family law, personal injury claims and children issues.

In 2009, Tallents celebrates 235 years, having served more than nine generations of North Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire people. This makes Tallents one of the oldest law firms in the county and possibly the UK.



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