What are some negotiable financial terms contained in boilerplate leases?
Provisions regarding the pass-through of triple-net operating expenses should be reviewed carefully, because the language often shifts the majority if not all of the operational expense responsibility to the tenant. The lease should expressly exclude numerous inappropriate expenses from the pass-through calculation. In addition, the tenant should have the unfettered right to conduct an audit of the costs after the fact. It is important that the audit not be restricted as to when it is performed, what time period it covers or who the tenant chooses to conduct it. Many other financial components, such as late charges and holdover rent, security deposits and other credit enhancements, are often presented by the landlord as ‘standard,’ but are in reality very much negotiable. Are lease expansion and termination provisions negotiable? The right to extend or terminate the lease or to shrink or expand the space are negotiable areas that are often overlooked. It is not unusual for a lease agre
