8 key questions to ask before you sign a lease
1. Has the landlord "remeasured" space to inflate numbers used in calculating rent?
2. Do you know how the base year in a landlord's draft lease would affect your company's occupancy costs?
3. Is the cost of running the heating, ventilating and air conditioning system likely to accelerate during the next lease term?
4. Do you know whether the landlord is proposing a higher-cost or lower-cost method of calculating electricity expenses?
5. Is the lease language specific enough when it supposedly excludes capital expenses from operating expenses?
6. Is the landlord proposing a level of service competitive with what's available at other buildings?
7. Are provisions about landlord performance adequate?
8. Would a proposed lease make it necessary for your company to pay out of pocket for services you assumed would be part of the deal?
While these are only a few of the questions that must be asked before you sign a lease, they do address some of the most important issues, and if just these questions are properly addressed, a tenant will be much better off than might otherwise be the case.