Here’s my question: We have negotiated fairly reasonable terms with a 2-month security deposit, and a 2-year lease with a personal guarantee from me and my husband as the owners of the corporation. Now the landlord is also requesting our personal financials. As startup business owners our financials don’t offer much, and most of our start-up funds will be coming from an outside investor. Is it customary for lessors to request personal financials for lease properties, and if so should we be providing ours, asking for the investors, or offering both? Our investor is already providing a substantial investment in our startup, so I’m a little hesitant to also ask him to supply financials for the lease.

Here’s my question: We have negotiated fairly reasonable terms with a 2-month security deposit, and a 2-year lease with a personal guarantee from me and my husband as the owners of the corporation. Now the landlord is also requesting our personal financials. As startup business owners our financials don’t offer much, and most of our start-up funds will be coming from an outside investor. Is it customary for lessors to request personal financials for lease properties, and if so should we be providing ours, asking for the investors, or offering both? Our investor is already providing a substantial investment in our startup, so I’m a little hesitant to also ask him to supply financials for the lease.

The lease I am negotiating also has me reponsible for the plate glass. Is that reasonable? I do have insurance coverage for such but there seems to be limitations associated with plate glass coverage with regards to the insurance plan.

The lease I am negotiating also has me reponsible for the plate glass. Is that reasonable? I do have insurance coverage for such but there seems to be limitations associated with plate glass coverage with regards to the insurance plan.

As to the property taxes, you are right in that it's very common for the tenant to pay for their pro-rata share of the property taxes. And negotiating that may be non-starter from the landlord's perspective.

As for the HVAC, I always advise my clients to not be responsible for HVAC maintenance. (1) You are assuming the risk for something that may have not been maintained by a prior tenant (or the unit you lease could just have a dud HVAC system) and (2) the landlord is in a much better position to maintain all the HVAC units of the facility so they are in working order.

I assume that your last question is about paying for the HVAC system when you are going to lease a brand new building or shell space that hasn't been built out yet. In that case, I have seen tenants have to pay for the HVAC unit. The key is to get enough of a tenant improvement allowance to cover that and the rest of the buildout. The problem is that you have to price out all the HVAC and other to-be-installed improvements BEFORE you negotiate your tenant allowance.

As to the property taxes, you are right in that it's very common for the tenant to pay for their pro-rata share of the property taxes. And negotiating that may be non-starter from the landlord's perspective.

As for the HVAC, I always advise my clients to not be responsible for HVAC maintenance. (1) You are assuming the risk for something that may have not been maintained by a prior tenant (or the unit you lease could just have a dud HVAC system) and (2) the landlord is in a much better position to maintain all the HVAC units of the facility so they are in working order.

I assume that your last question is about paying for the HVAC system when you are going to lease a brand new building or shell space that hasn't been built out yet. In that case, I have seen tenants have to pay for the HVAC unit. The key is to get enough of a tenant improvement allowance to cover that and the rest of the buildout. The problem is that you have to price out all the HVAC and other to-be-installed improvements BEFORE you negotiate your tenant allowance.

You bring up some good points.

I agree that a lot of lease negotiation and construction depends on what's customary to the city, state, or regional area. In Texas, landlords seem to not offer gross leases on spaces larger than 1,500 square feet. In California, the landlords I have dealt with seem to be worried more about insurance increases than property tax increases, making it easier to get caps on the latter.

A landlord and tenant can squash a lot of these issues by simply having a gross lease; it would end the issues of CAM charges and calculations, lease audits, etc.

You bring up some good points.

I agree that a lot of lease negotiation and construction depends on what's customary to the city, state, or regional area. In Texas, landlords seem to not offer gross leases on spaces larger than 1,500 square feet. In California, the landlords I have dealt with seem to be worried more about insurance increases than property tax increases, making it easier to get caps on the latter.

A landlord and tenant can squash a lot of these issues by simply having a gross lease; it would end the issues of CAM charges and calculations, lease audits, etc.