A “holdover tenant” is a tenant who remains on the premises after the end of the term of the lease. In most commercial real estate leases there is a holdover provision, which states that the leasehold continues on a month-to-month basis. The lease usually provides that the month to month…
Lease Options are commonly seen in California. The agreement gives the tenant an irrevocable right to buy the property under certain conditions, and usually have restrictions based on tenant defaults. Sacramento real estate attorneys most often see issues arise regarding how the option is exercised, tender of the option price,…
In larger commercial real estate leases, the tenant occasionally needs a loan to build the premises or finance major transactions. The tenant does not own the real property, but has the lease, which is both an interest in real property and a contract. This results in two sets of rights…
In the ordinary real estate or business sale escrow, the escrow officer owes duties to the parties to only the parties to the escrow, and not to third parties. There are a few exceptions, such as when the parties real estate sale escrow instructions require following a third party’s instructions,…
Leases often have terms allowing extension or renewal for additional time (the difference between extension and renew discussed below). Sacramento real estate attorneys may be called on to interpret the terms of the renewal option when they are not clearly drafted; sometimes it takes a court ruling to reach a…
California real estate purchase and sale contracts often incur in conjunction with a written lease, such as in the case of a lease- option or both a lease and a contract entered together that reference each other. The lease-option includes a purchase contract that with instructions in the option as…
In California, every contract includes an implied obligation not to do anything that prevents the other party from benefiting from the contract, and to cooperate if necessary for the other party. This is called the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. It does not create a new obligation but…
In the past, when multiple parties were obligated under the same commercial lease, they were presumed to be jointly liable. They are each responsible for their share of the total. If the other side wanted to enforce the agreement, they had to name all the jointly liable parties in the…
Last week I discussed a cotenancy provision in a California commercial lease, where the court found that the rent abatement aspect – if the specified cotenant was not operating, the tenant’s rent is reduced or eliminated – was found to be an unenforceable penalty. That court also looked at whether…
Cotenancy provisions are often required by larger retail tenants in shopping centers of all sizes. They require other specified stores in the center to be open and operating, on the assumption that these other stores will draw the desired mix of potential customers. They come in two flavors; opening requirements,…