Overlooked obligations
CTRR's advice to help protect a tenant
In their so-called "standard" leases, landlords almost always propose terms which will make it easiest for them to take their equity out of a building. Moreover, anticipating the possibility that a landlord might default, and the bank might have to take over a building, the existing lender demands lease language that maximizes tenant obligations and minimizes landlord (lender) obligations.
The fine print here means the tenant could lose all essential services and still be obligated to pay rent. If the landlord defaulted, and the bank took over the building, the bank would have unlimited time to correct any building problems -- and the tenant would have no recourse.
CTRR's advice: give the incoming lender a specific, reasonably short time to cure most run-of-the-mill landlord defaults. If a default can't be cured within that time, allow a reasonable extension. As for defaults related to essential services which affect whether or not the tenant can use the space: provide a "quick trigger", a short period of time after which the tenant has the right to other effective remedies. CTRR's proposed changes were accepted.
