A commercial lease is designed to make business agreements clear-cut. A well-written lease helps both parties avoid disputes and unwanted surprises. However, a commercial lease is only effective when both sides respect its terms.
When one party breaches the terms of a commercial lease, it’s hard to predict the exact outcomes, but they’re rarely positive. Breaching a lease can lead to economic losses, costly legal fees, and a serious negative impact on the other party’s business.
It can be deeply frustrating when a business partner breaches their lease, but anger won’t help you achieve a resolution. Instead, it’s best to understand the consequences and consult a commercial litigation attorney to discuss your options.
Understanding Breach of Commercial Lease
A commercial lease is a legally binding agreement. It typically covers the terms under which one party leases a commercial property for business purposes. A well-written lease should address in clear terms many common questions about how a commercial property should be used.
The average commercial lease might address the following matters:
- What the property will be used for
- What sort of operations will occur in the building
- Responsibility for repairs, insurance policies, and other financial concerns
- How long the lease will be in effect
- The consequences for early termination of the lease
When both parties respect the terms of a commercial lease, business generally runs smoothly. However, if either the property owner or lessee breaches the lease, the other party can suffer financially.
Handling a Commercial Breach of Lease
A commercial lease can be breached in a variety of ways. Generally, any sort of action or inaction specified in the lease must be followed by both parties. Some of the most common ways in which a commercial lease might be breached include:
- Raising rent without sufficient notice or against lease terms
- Evicting a commercial tenant without notice
- Failing to pay for needed repairs to the property
- Failing to carry required insurance coverage
- Conducting operations not allowed by the lease
- Subleasing the property when the lease forbids it
- Violating the lease’s move-out terms
It’s possible for a breach of commercial lease to happen through oversight. However, if you’ve spoken with the other party and they have no intention of adhering to the lease’s terms, your only option is to speak with a commercial litigation attorney about how to move forward.
Consequences and Options When a Commercial Lease Is Breached
The consequences of a breached commercial lease can vary widely. For example, suppose that the lease terms state the landlord is responsible for necessary building repairs. If the landlords fail to make repairs in a timely manner, you might end up paying for water damage to equipment or merchandise.
At the same time, if the landlord claims you never gave notice that repairs were needed, it can quickly become a situation of your word against theirs. The potential options for navigating a broken lease agreement are often based on factors like:
- How the lease was breached
- Costs and other negative effects of the breach
- Which party breached the lease
- The willingness of both parties to work toward a resolution
When a straightforward resolution can’t be achieved, your lawyer will likely recommend mediation or, if necessary, legal action.
Speak With a New York Commercial Litigation Attorney Today
It can be hard to predict how the breach of a commercial lease agreement will impact your business’s finances, reputation, and operations. If you’re working to figure out how to navigate the breach of a commercial lease in New York, Levy Goldenberg LLP can help.
The experienced New York commercial litigation attorneys at Levy Goldenberg can help you identify your options and work toward a legal resolution that protects your finances when the terms of your commercial lease are ignored.
Call Levy Goldenberg today to schedule a consultation with an experienced commercial litigation attorney.