A Commercial Lease is a contract between a Landlord and Tenant which sets out the rights of both parties. It is generally a document which is favourable to the Landlord and accordingly legal assistance is required to ensure that the Tenant has rights afforded by the law and to generally minimise the harshness of the document in relation to the Tenant’s occupancy,
Conversely a Landlord will want to ensure that its investment is protected and most importantly its rights to achieve a fair return from its property are preserved. The Landlord will also want to ensure that its rights upon the Tenant defaulting are preserved and in that regard the lawyer engaged will need to make sure all the assets and references of any prospective Tenant are available for examination and approval by the Landlord.
If the Premises qualify as a retail shop, there are various and complicated disclosure requirements set down by the State Government in the interest of ensuring fairness to the Tenant. Those requirements can be relatively complicated and legal and accounting assistance is strongly recommended in complying with those disclosure requirements. There are strict time limits imposed by the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 which regulates those disclosure requirements and this can often prove frustrating to a seller and buyer of a business where both parties are keen to finalise the transaction. Legal assistance is required to comply with those requirements and, importantly to make sure that the demands of the Landlord are fair and reasonable in the provision of the consent to the new Tenant occupying the Premises.
Generally guidelines on leasing can be obtained through Justice Queensland, however they are no substitute for legal representation. Their legislation in fact requires a lawyer to read over and explain the contents of the Lease and to sign a Legal Advice Certificate.
