As a commercial property landlord, it’s important to understand all your responsibilities. The same holds true if you are a tenant, such as somebody who is renting office space.
Here are some of the most important commercial landlord responsibilities:
— Compliance with any and all building codes. These differ from one state and city to the next, so it’s important for commercial property owners to stay informed. These codes can and will change over time.
— Creating clear terms for the lease. If you want to avoid trouble at a later date, you should create a lease agreement with clear terms and conditions. Both sides need to be comfortable with the agreement they are signing.
— Your duties in regards to repairs and maintenance. What are you responsible for fixing and maintaining? What is your tenant responsible for? Once again, this should all be outlined in the commercial lease agreement.
— Maintaining the proper type of insurance coverage. This differs from one building to the next, but can include general liability, property insurance and flood insurance. Remember, it’s better to have too much insurance than not enough.
These are some of the most important commercial landlord responsibilities. Unfortunately, even if you take all the right steps, there could come a time when you find yourself in a dispute with a tenant.
At that point, the best thing you can do is review your lease to learn more about your rights. From there, you should do your best to work with the tenant to resolve the dispute in a timely manner.
Source: Pekin Insurance, “The Top 5 Commercial Landlord Responsibilities,” accessed May 19, 2017