Unfortunately, commercial lease disputes can arise whether as a result of negligence on the part of the landlord or damage to the property by the tenants. Knowing your rights and having a good understanding of the lease contract can help you mitigate or prevent these disputes when they arise regardless of which side you’re on. This article will go over some strategies and tips you can use to reduce the chances of encountering commercial lease disputes in Melbourne.
Treat the Property with Respect
One of the main causes of commercial lease disputes is damage to the commercial property or failure to maintain the commercial property to a reasonable standard. This can be the fault of either the tenant or the landlord. When signing a commercial lease, the tenant agrees to not cause unnecessary damage to property, or if damage to the commercial property does occur, they will incur the expense to rectify the issue. This is usually what a security deposit or bond upon signing the lease is for.
Likewise, landlords of commercial properties have an obligation to maintain the property to a reasonable standard. This means things like not neglecting critical maintenance such as plumbing or electrical work, keeping the building safe and operational for a business during the lease term.
When both parties uphold their obligations and treat the property with respect, the chance of a lease dispute occurring is drastically reduced.
Read Contracts Carefully
Sometimes, even if you think you’ve done everything correctly, commercial lease disputes can still occur simply due to an oversight at the time of signing the lease contract. For instance, a commercial lease can sometimes stipulate that the tenant is responsible for some repairs but not others. If the tenant simply assumes the landlord is responsible for all repairs on the property, this can easily cause an issue and lead to the commercial landlord launching a lease dispute against the tenant.
Similarly, in some instances a commercial landlord may lease a building not realising that they are actually responsible for outgoings (rates, taxes and levies). Failure to pay these can lead the business currently occupying the building getting unfairly fined, which often results in them launching a commercial lease dispute against the landlord.
Communication
If something in the commercial lease agreement doesn’t look right or you need to communicate an important change to the agreement, maintaining an open line of communication is critical. Commercial lease disputes in Melbourne often arise due to a lack of communication from either party or because of a miscommunication of a critical detail. When communicating with either a landlord or a tenant, it’s best to keep a neutral, friendly tone and avoid any emotional language or personal attacks in the event that an issue with the lease is being raised.
It’s also important to keep a record of any communications between yourself and the other parties involved in the lease agreement. This can be done by keeping a written journal with times and dates of when specific communications took place, but it’s also important that you keep emails, texts and in some cases even phone conversations stored and readily accessible.
