Stuck with no remedy
CTRR's advice to help protect a tenant
The "standard" lease would shield the landlord from potential liability for accidents, misdeeds, costs associated with a breach of the tenant's lease, and so on, contrary to customary notions of responsibility, by adding language to this effect. Moreover, the lease says that if the property is sold, the outgoing landlord has no continuing responsibility associated with the lease, and the incoming landlord has no responsibility for existing breaches, landlord defaults, etc. Consequently, if there's a serious problem in the building, and ownership changes because of a foreclosure, sale to a REIT or anything else, the tenant would be stuck without an acceptable remedy. For instance, the outgoing landlord might fail to repair HVAC equipment resulting in substantial damage to the premises -- and escape liability once the building is sold. The incoming landlord could claim no obligation to fix problems which arose before he acquired the building. Another common situation: a landlord overcharges a tenant for services and escapes liability after the building is sold. The incoming landlord has no responsibility for the prior landlord's errors.
CTRR's advice: specify a practical way the tenant could tap landlord assets to compensate it for an outgoing landlord's defaults. CTRR's proposed change was accepted.
