More often than not, after a lease is signed the documents are stored away and never looked at again until it's too late to negotiate a good deal with your landlord. Deadlines built into the lease are often overlooked causing unforeseen expenses and inconveniences. To avoid having this occur to your company, Austin Tenant Advisors recommend the following key steps to take:

Know your lease commencement date and lease expiration date
Most leases require that you give notice of your intent to renew your existing lease, typically within 30-180 days. The last thing you want is to miss that deadline with the landlord leasing the space to someone else, thus giving you insufficient time to relocate; or even worse, having to move unexpectedly. Even if you are committed to relocating, giving your landlord sufficient notice will help you preserve that relationship. You never know if you will need to stay in your existing space an extra month or two while your new space is being built out.

Maintain critical lease information

1. Lease Documents: it is imperative that you keep all lease documents organized and filed away (hard copy, soft copy, or both) in a place where at least two people can easily retrieve the info. This includes all lease agreements, addenda, amendments, exhibits and side agreements (e.g. NDA's and estoppels).

2. Negotiation History: Most lease documents might seem unclear causing you confusion when a specific issue arises. Notes and prior drafts of the documents can save hours of time when you are trying to ascertain and explain the intent of a particular clause. Make sure to document all conversations during negotiations so you can reference them later.

3. Bills: Most leases contain operating expense, tax and other pass-through clauses as well as requirements that the tenant pay for sundry items not covered by the rent. The bills for these items all make their way to accounts payable, but many corporations do not save copies in their real estate files. This makes an analysis and comparison of charges to lease requirements close to impossible. With respect to the escalation charges, copies of all annual reconciliations should be filed away. Copies of sundry charges should similarly be scanned if the originals are to be sent to accounts payable for processing.

4. Correspondence: Preserve copies of all letters, even though they may not rise to the level of legal agreements. Letters can give those reviewing the file a better picture of the overall relationship between the parties. Leasing commercial space will be one of your most expensive overhead items for your business. Make sure you are prepared and understand your rights as a tenant by knowing your lease deadlines and keeping track of your lease contracts.

You worked hard to negotiate your lease.....don't lose control of it!