What We Expect From You As Our Tenant -

You Are Responsible for Your Own Success:

You and you alone are responsible for the success of your business. The landlord is leasing you a facility to give you an opportunity to be successful. Your success is then solely your responsibility, even if there are changes in the rest of the property or in the neighborhood of your leased facility.

Prompt Payment of Rent:

All rent is due on the first of the month. Your lease may have a grace period where late charges do not apply, for instance in the first 5 or 10 days of the month. However, rent is still due on the first day and delinquent if outstanding on the second day. The landlord’s business will not function properly if your rent is not paid. Therefore, landlords take rather severe action when the rent does not arrive on time and in the amount agreed upon in your lease. If the landlord needs to institute collection procedures against you in order to obtain the rent, you may expect the landlord to remember this mark against you for a very long time.

Compatibility With Neighboring Businesses:

Businesses must get along with their neighbors, both neighboring businesses within the property and nearby uses in the adjacent neighborhood. The landlord expects you will operate your business in a manner that is compatible with all the neighbors, whether it be noise, smells, sights, trash, pest control, deliveries, customer parking, or any of the other hundred ways your business can impact your neighbors.

Taking Good Care of Your Business Premises and the Overall Property:

The landlord expects you will take good care of your business premises and the overall property. This certainly means good maintenance care to all of the building components – electrical, lighting, plumbing, glass, doors, walls, ceiling, and the heating and air conditioning equipment. This also means good trash and litter control, proper recycling, pest control, and customer compliance with the common area rules and regulations. An attractive, smoothly operating property is good for your business.

Avoiding Hidden Damages:

A few of your responsibilities are easily overlooked until substantial and expensive damage is incurred. Sewer lines, typically made from code-required cast iron, can literally dissolve in the presence of even mild acids or alkyls. Did you know that it only takes about 10 years of discarding unwanted soda pop down a drain line before the line develops holes? Repair is not a landlord cost and this cost can be huge. Maintaining your heating and air conditioning equipment regularly is essential to its efficient operation. Much more expensive than regular maintenance is the thorough cleaning of the entire system needed when you do not replace the filters often enough. What if you do not know what to watch out for around your business? Ask your property supervisor.

Keeping Your Business Inside Your Premises:

Your premises are tightly defined by your lease. It is expected that all of your business will be conducted inside your facility, unless your lease specifically allows otherwise. Your lease controls such issues as sidewalk sales, permission for roof-mounted equipment, and temporary outside storage.

Insuring Your Business:

Insuring your business is a requirement of your lease and good business sense. Liability damages can wipe you out financially, so the landlord requires you to insure your business for liability losses. These losses happen every day somewhere; they can happen to you. Keep your liability insurance current.