5 Common Landlord Mistakes That Could Cost You!
Most commercial landlords believe that if they have a signed lease, they're protected.
What many don't realise is that simple oversights can lead to costly consequences — from losing thousands of dollars in recoverable expenses to unintentionally extending a tenant's lease. ⚠️
These mistakes are more common than you might think, and in many cases they're entirely avoidable. 📌
▶️ In this short video, Ross explains five common mistakes landlords make with commercial and retail leases, and how to avoid them before they become expensive problems.
If you own a commercial or retail property, this is a worthwhile 2-minute investment.
Working with you,
Ross Millen & The Millens Team
Ross Millen:
Hi. We're continuing to see a lot of problems for people who have commercial leases, retail leases. And there's many, many issues. One of the first issues we see is people forgetting to give this Section 28 notice, which is advising the tenant that they've got an option to exercise. So the option doesn't run out until you've given that notice and three months has expired. So people are sometimes surprised by that, the landlords. Another one we've seen recently is where people don't understand that a use is actually a retail use. This is sometimes a complex area. It's not obvious. But if the ultimate consumer of your goods or services is the person who buys from someone who is operating, then that's a retail use. So we had someone who was using it as a showroom, but they also had some sales from the premises, so it was a retail use. And the problem was the landlord couldn't charge the land tax, which was about $20,000 a year, to the tenant, which disastrously affected the return on their investment.
Another one we've seen recently is retail tenants are entitled to a five-year minimum term. A landlord created their own lease giving the tenant only two years. Then when they came to sell the property with vacant possession, the tenant turned around and said, "Hey, I'm entitled to another three years." So they couldn't sell. They had to sell subject to the lease, which they didn't want to do. So there's a whole lot of issues that people as landlords are forgetting about when dealing with commercial and/or retail leases. So we urge you, if you are entering into a leasing transaction, come and talk to us first. We can review the documents, we can give you advice. Remember, Ross Millen and the Millens team are going to help you with your leasing problems.