Jun/092
False Economy - Not taking Legal Advice when taking a Commercial Lease
People do not want to incur legal expenses if they can avoid it and may not take advice before entering into a lease or taking an assignment of an existing one. They may just read the document presented to them without fully understanding the implications of various ’standard’ clauses. I recently saw a client who had received a copy of a lease which included a standard obligation to comply with statutory requirements. The clause seems innocuous and reasonable enough.
The property involved was a public house and he assumed the clause related to such things as complying with licensing laws. In our conversations it became apparent that the premises probably did not comply with the Disability Discrimination Act as regards access to the premises and to the toilets for disabled persons. The layout of the building was such that it could be difficult to adapt the building without significant cost. ‘Who would be responsible for that cost’ asked the client. He automatically assumed it would be the Landlord. When I pointed out that the the obligation on the tenant’s part to comply with statutory obligations would probably mean it was his responsiblity he was taken aback. Needless to say he wanted to think further about taking on such a potential obligation.
Had he not sought legal advice he could have been saddled with an obligation he did not expect which would be far more costly than any legal advice.
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