Taming the Tenant's Form of Lease

Accustomed to manning the ramparts in defense of its landlord client's form of lease, it is always a bit unsettling for a landlord's lawyer to be advised by its client that “for this national tenant, we must work from the tenant's form of lease.” Suddenly, instead of engaging in the familiar determination of which of the tenant's requested lease revisions are acceptable to the landlord, the lawyer is faced with determining which essential provisions of a lease from landlord's perspective are either entirely or substantially missing from the tenant's form of lease and then negotiating to include such provisions. While similar in nature to the task facing a tenant's lawyer working from a landlord's form, perhaps because it is not an everyday occurrence and has major implications for the entire property, the task is generally considered to be more formidable. This article sets forth and discusses some of the major landlord “fixes” often required when working from a tenant's form of lease.