CAM Charges and Operating Expenses
Review common area maintenance charges, taxes, insurance, management fees, exclusions, caps, audit rights, and how additional rent is calculated.
Commercial Lease Review Attorney in Texas
Found the right space for your business? Before you sign the lease, make sure you understand what you are agreeing to. Commercial leases are often long, dense, and written to protect the landlord. Even when you are working with a qualified commercial real estate broker or realtor, it is wise to have a business attorney review the lease before you commit.
At Massingill, we help Texas business owners review commercial leases before signing. Our role is simple: we provide a legal review of the lease, explain the key risks in plain English, and help you understand which terms may need to be negotiated, clarified, or revised.
Legal Review for Commercial Tenants
Many commercial tenants come to us after they have already found a location, negotiated the basic business terms, and received a draft lease from the landlord or property manager. They are not looking for a full real estate transaction team. They just need an experienced business attorney to read the lease, spot problems, and help them avoid costly surprises.
Our commercial lease review service is designed for business owners, startups, medical practices, professional offices, retailers, restaurants, franchisees, and service businesses that want practical legal guidance before signing a Texas commercial lease.
Commercial leases are written for the long haul. A few overlooked words about repairs, guarantees, CAM charges, or default can become expensive obligations years after the lease is signed.
What We Look for in a Commercial Lease Review
A commercial lease can affect your business for years. The rent amount is only one part of the deal. Important legal and financial obligations are often buried in the details.
During a commercial lease review, we commonly evaluate terms involving:
- Base rent, additional rent, operating expenses, CAM charges, and pass-through costs
- Lease term, renewal options, rent increases, and holdover provisions
- Security deposits, personal guarantees, and landlord remedies
- Use restrictions, exclusivity rights, signage, parking, and access
- Maintenance, repairs, HVAC, utilities, and common area obligations
- Build-out, tenant improvements, allowances, and construction deadlines
- Assignment, subleasing, relocation rights, and early termination issues
- Insurance, indemnity, default, notice, and dispute resolution provisions
Why You Should Not Rely Only on the Broker
Commercial real estate brokers and realtors can be extremely helpful. They understand the market, help identify properties, negotiate business terms, and guide tenants through the leasing process. But brokers are not a substitute for legal counsel.
A broker may help you understand whether the rent is competitive or whether the location makes business sense. A commercial lease attorney focuses on the legal obligations: what happens if your business needs to close, expand, assign the lease, dispute CAM charges, repair expensive equipment, or respond to a landlord default notice.
If you are already working with a realtor or commercial broker, we can work alongside them. Our goal is not to replace your broker. Our goal is to help you understand the legal language before you sign.
Commercial Lease Review
10 Things to Look for Before Signing a Commercial Lease
A commercial lease is more than rent and square footage. These are some of the provisions Texas business owners should understand before signing a lease for office, retail, medical, restaurant, or industrial space.
HVAC Responsibility
Determine who maintains, repairs, and replaces the HVAC system. A tenant can inherit expensive obligations if the lease shifts HVAC risk too broadly.
Personal Guarantee
Understand whether the owner is personally liable for rent, damages, attorney’s fees, build-out costs, or obligations that survive early closure.
Repairs and Maintenance
Check who is responsible for plumbing, electrical, roof, foundation, glass, doors, parking areas, common areas, fixtures, and building systems.
Indemnity and Insurance
Indemnity clauses can shift major risk to the tenant. Review insurance requirements, waivers of subrogation, defense obligations, and liability carveouts.
Default and Cure Periods
Look for notice requirements, cure periods, late fees, acceleration rights, lockout remedies, interest, and the landlord’s ability to recover attorney’s fees.
Landlord’s Duty to Mitigate
If the tenant defaults or vacates, the lease should be reviewed for mitigation language, reletting rights, damages, and future rent exposure.
Assignment and Subleasing
If your business grows, sells, relocates, or changes ownership, assignment and sublease restrictions can determine how flexible the lease really is.
Build-Out and Tenant Improvements
Review construction deadlines, tenant improvement allowances, landlord approvals, permits, contractor rules, reimbursement timing, and who owns improvements.
Renewal, Relocation, and Exit Rights
Renewal options, rent increases, relocation clauses, early termination rights, holdover rent, and surrender obligations can shape your long-term leverage.
Need legal eyes on a commercial lease?
If you already have a broker or realtor and just need a business attorney to review the lease before signing, Massingill can help.
Commercial Lease Review Before You Sign
Once a commercial lease is signed, it can be difficult and expensive to fix problems. Tenants may discover too late that they personally guaranteed the lease, accepted broad repair obligations, waived important rights, or agreed to costs that were not obvious during negotiations.
A legal review before signing can help you identify red flags, ask better questions, and negotiate more favorable terms. Even when the lease is generally acceptable, a review can give you confidence that you understand the risks and responsibilities.
Commercial Lease Review FAQ
Questions About Commercial Lease Reviews
If you already have a commercial real estate broker or realtor and need a lawyer to review the lease before signing, these frequently asked questions explain what a commercial lease attorney looks for.
Do I need a lawyer to review a commercial lease?
A commercial lease attorney can help you understand the legal obligations in the lease before you sign. Commercial leases often include terms involving CAM charges, personal guarantees, repairs, defaults, renewals, assignment, subleasing, insurance, and indemnity. A lawyer can identify risks and explain what the lease actually requires.
Can my realtor or broker review the lease for me?
A commercial real estate broker or realtor can help with market terms, available space, rent comparisons, and business negotiations. However, a broker is not a substitute for legal advice. A commercial lease review lawyer focuses on the legal language, tenant obligations, landlord remedies, risk allocation, and terms that may create future liability.
What does a commercial lease review include?
A commercial lease review may include evaluating rent, additional rent, common area maintenance charges, renewal options, security deposits, personal guarantees, use restrictions, signage, parking, tenant improvements, repairs, insurance, indemnity, assignment, subleasing, default provisions, and early termination issues.
What are CAM charges in a commercial lease?
CAM charges, or common area maintenance charges, are costs a landlord may pass through to tenants for maintaining shared areas of a commercial property. Depending on the lease, CAM charges may include expenses for parking lots, landscaping, utilities, insurance, taxes, management fees, repairs, and other operating costs. Tenants should understand how these charges are calculated, capped, audited, and paid.
Should I sign a personal guarantee for a commercial lease?
A personal guarantee can make an individual business owner personally responsible for lease obligations if the business cannot pay. Landlords often request personal guarantees from small businesses, startups, and newer tenants. Before signing, tenants should understand the scope of the guarantee, whether it can be limited, and how long personal liability may last.
What lease terms are most important for a commercial tenant?
Important commercial lease terms often include the lease term, rent increases, renewal options, permitted use, exclusivity rights, repair obligations, HVAC responsibilities, build-out deadlines, tenant improvement allowances, assignment rights, subleasing rights, default provisions, relocation clauses, and termination rights. The most important terms depend on the tenant’s business and the property.
Can a commercial lease be negotiated?
Many commercial lease terms can be negotiated, especially before the lease is signed. Tenants may be able to negotiate rent, renewal options, repair obligations, tenant improvements, personal guarantee limits, assignment rights, CAM charge caps, exclusivity language, signage rights, or default cure periods. A lease review can help identify which issues are worth raising.
When should I have a commercial lease reviewed?
Ideally, you should have a commercial lease reviewed before signing and before final negotiations are complete. Once the lease is signed, it may be difficult to change unfavorable terms. A review is especially important before committing to a long lease term, signing a personal guarantee, accepting build-out obligations, or opening a new business location.
What is a tenant improvement allowance?
A tenant improvement allowance is money or credit the landlord provides for build-out or improvements to the leased space. Tenants should understand what work is covered, who controls construction, when reimbursement is paid, what approvals are required, and what happens if construction costs exceed the allowance.
Can Massingill work with my commercial real estate broker?
Yes. Many tenants already have a commercial broker or realtor helping them find and negotiate space. Massingill can work alongside your broker by reviewing the commercial lease, identifying legal issues, explaining risks, and helping you understand which terms may need clarification or revision before signing.
Who This Service Is For
Our commercial lease review service is a good fit if:
- You already found a commercial space and received a draft lease
- You are working with a realtor, broker, landlord, or property manager
- You need a business attorney to review the lease before signing
- You want practical legal feedback, not unnecessary complication
- You need help understanding lease terms, risks, and negotiation points
Talk to a Texas Commercial Lease Attorney
Signing a commercial lease is a major business decision. Whether you are opening your first location, relocating your office, expanding into a larger space, or renewing an existing lease, a legal review can help protect your business.