The Common Area Maintenance (CAM) charges paragraph of a lease is always important. It should detail what charges are included, and, by implication, what charges are not included.

In a recent New York case *, the lease CAM paragraph didn’t define all the charges, but did indicate that they included annual property taxes. After paying CAM charges for two years, including the tenant’s proportionate share of insurance on the property, the tenant realized that, perhaps, it wasn’t liable for insurance under the terms of its lease. The tenant sued to be reimbursed for the insurance portion of the CAM charges it had paid.

The court noted that the lease didn’t define the CAM charges, other than that it included the property taxes, and that the lease did have an insurance clause obligating the landlord to maintain insurance. That insurance clause did not mention a tenant’s obligation to pay its share of those costs.

Based on the lack of definition in the CAM clause, and the lack of requirement for the tenant to pay a proportionate share in the insurance clause, the court determined that the landlord would have to reimburse the tenant for its payment of those insurance charges.

What this points out, once again, is the need to have good counsel review your proposed lease to make sure you understand your obligations as a tenant. A well-qualified Tenant Representative and your real estate attorney should be able to tell you exactly what your obligations will be under your lease.

*I review the Commercial Tenant’s lease Insider, a monthly newsletter I receive, and this case was mentioned in the February issue.  The shopping center photo is from the Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary Online.

World Trade Center Site

The New York Times reported recently that Larry Silverstein, who leased the trade center complex six weeks before it was destroyed in the 2001 terrorist attack, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey just received the results of an arbitration hearing, with both of them claiming victory. Silverstein complained that he had been delayed in the construction of three new office towers by the actions of the Port Authority, and the Port Authority claimed that Silverstein had to begin construction immediately or he would lose the right to the lease. Silverstein lost on his claim of delay asking for damages, and the Port Authority lost on the demand that Silverstein commence construction. The parties were ordered to work out a reasonable construction schedule.

The reason I raise this issue is that the standard lease used by many commercial brokers in Southern California is the AIR COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE ASSOCIATION standard Industrial/Commercial, Multi-tenant Lease, which gives the parties the choice of including or not including mediation and arbitration as part of the lease. If chosen, an Addendum pertaining to those clauses has to be attached to the lease.

As a tenant, you have to determine whether or not you want to provide for Mediation and Arbitration. This important decision is often dealt without much thought. YOU SHOULD DISCUSS THIS WITH YOUR COUNSEL.

Arbitration was once thought to be less expensive than litigation, but today as much expensive discovery and pre-arbitration work is involved as in litigation. You need to evaluate, with the help of counsel, whether mediation and arbitration will resolve matters more quickly, or be less expensive. Arbitration is usually private as opposed to public trial. Is that a consideration?

There are many other issues to be concerned with if you choose mediation and arbitration. Don’t agree to mediation and arbitration without careful consideration of the many issues that your counsel should review. If you’d like to discuss what issues you might want to raise with your counsel, I’m available at 760-230-1492 or at Lee@LeeSterling.com.

We now get to the A of SNDAs (Subordination, Non-disturbance, and Attornment Agreements in leases.) First a brief recap of Subordination and Non-Disturbance. You may remember from our previous articles that if you’re a tenant, and you’ve agreed to subordinate your interest in the lease to any mortgage, trust deed of other security device, and the holder of one of those security devices forecloses, your lease may be terminated. Leases usually provide for that subordination to security devises even if they are created after the lease commences. The non-disturbance clause protects you in the event of a foreclosure (or in the event the property is sold to another owner) by providing that if you’re not in default you’ll be able to keep your lease in effect.

The attornment clause stems from the old feudal law that there was a personal obligation between the lord of the manor and his tenants, and that those obligations were reciprocal. The consent of the lord was required for a sale of the tenant’s interest, and the consent of the tenant was required for alienation (sale/transfer) of the reversion or remainder interest in the property. Thus, the lord could not alienate his reversion or remainder interest without the consent of the tenant. The consent was called an attornment. The necessity for an attornment was abolished before the American Revolution by the English Statute of Anne. In California, the common law rule eliminating the requirement of attornment has been confirmed by statute. However, just to be sure, leases contain an attornment clause that provides that if title to the property is transferred by the Lessor or if title is acquired through foreclosure or termination of a Security Device the tenant will attorn to the new owner.

The language of the SNDA in each lease has to be examined carefully because there are differences that may result from the specific language of the three inter-related clauses. There are some interesting California cases involving the interpretation of SNDAs. Be sure to have the lease reviewed by California counsel before signing any lease.

Lee Sterling was a real estate lawyer in Colorado for 27 years. He is not licensed as an attorney in California. He does have a California real estate license # 01319489.

On Friday, July 10, 2009, we celebrated the opening of the new location for My Life Tees, Silk-Screen and Embroided Apparel, owned by Stacie and Paul Marotta. We helped them find the location and then negotiated the lease on favorable terms by being persistent despite the landlord’s reluctance. That’s Paul, Stacie, and me in the picture to the left. We’re having a delayed celebration of my turning the keys over to them for their new production and display facility.

When we first looked at the space, it was dreary, the toilet had a sign that we shouldn’t try to use it, and the warehouse ceiling cover had holes taped with duct tape. But, the location fronted on a busy street at 310 Via Vera Cruz in San Marcos, and we felt the price could be advantageous. However, despite the significant vacancy factor in the complex and the area, the landlord REFUSED to respond to our first Letter of Intent. The Property Manager explained that the landlord had owned the complex for years, and had never had to lower rents to the level we were offering. The Property Manager indicated a lease rate which she thought the landlord would accept. That was still too high in our estimation, and in our client’s budget. We prepared another letter outlining the reason for our revised offer that was still lower than the landlord indicated he was willing to accept. Finally, the landlord realized that we would “walk” from the location, and accepted our revised offer. You have to know your market, know your strength, and be prepared to walk away from unreasonable situations.

We were delighted to work with Stacie and Paul. We met Stacie as an active member of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, and as organizer of TheMeetMarket, a networking group of entrepreneurs. Paul is a civilian radar expert for the U.S. Navy. Both of them recognized that they wanted to be entrepreneurs, and purchased My Life Tees, a great source fro sikl-screen and embroided apparel. Since buying the business they’ve had great success in expanding the business by concentrating on North County sports teams and expanding to develop Rhinestone embroidery for beautiful feminine t-shirts and blouses.

Stacie and Paul have done a wonderful job of redecorating and fixing up the space to show off their products and to efficiently produce their beautiful t-shirts and embroided apparel. Click here to go to their website where you can order on line.