COMMERCIAL AND OFFICE LEASE AGREEMENTS & LANDLORD AND TENANTS DISPUTES

Helping Houston Landlord & Tenants With Drafting Contracts & Resolving Disputes  

Texas Commercial Lease Contracts and Resident Lease Agreements

Commercial leases are often long and are oftentimes complicated by obscure language and terms of art that only the most experienced individuals or those within the industry would be able to comprehend. However, these provisions are necessitated by the need to protect both the landlord and the tenant. The Houston Real Estate Attorneys and the Westchase Landlord & Tenant Lawyers assist our clients in drafting, refining, or negotiating the lease in accordance with your need. Oftentimes, landlords and tenants do not contact attorneys until it is too late, only after they have signed a lease contract that may not offer adequate protection for the parties. Tenants should be especially careful when signing a lease on a property that is under construction or a newly developed property because vague language has the tendency to betray the purpose of the tenant’s lease and bind such tenant for years. Spending a few hours with the Houston Commercial Lease Attorneys and the Houston Landlord Tenant Lawyers could potentially save you thousands of dollars and the need to litigate your contract at a later time.

Our Houston Lease Agreement Attorneys and The Woodlands Lease Contract Lawyers are experienced in reviewing and drafting commercial and residential lease. In addition, our Houston Eviction Attorneys and our Houston Forcible Detainer Lawyers (Forcible Entry and Detainer) also have vast experience in both defending evictions as well as evicting tenants for nonpayment of rents. To contact one of our attorneys, please call713-517-6645.

Enforcement of Lease Agreements

Generally, lease agreements must have clear, unambiguous language. A contract, including a commercial lease agreement, is ambiguous when its meaning is uncertain, doubtful, or it is reasonably susceptible to more than one meaning. Any ambiguous wording must become apparent when the contract is read in the context of surrounding circumstances. Furthermore, in order for an agreement to become a binding contract, the parties must have “mutual assent,” often called “the meeting of the minds,” on the essential issues of the contract, such as the price, effective date of the lease, delivery date, default provisions, payment of rents, etc… When the language are vague and more than one reasonable inference can be drawn, there may not be meeting of the minds between the parties; and, therefore, no contract. Additionally, the contract must have mutuality of obligation, binding the parties to take certain actions. In the context of a lease, payment of rent and delivery of the property for possession are usually the mutual obligations of the parties; and, such obligations must be clear and definite. Lastly, a court will hold that a contract is voidable where the clauses are so one-sided as to be unconscionable to the other party, such as a boiler-plate lease agreement that is mostly in favor of the landlord. This includes contracts that contain inconspicuous risk-shifting provisions such as language that would make the landlord’s promise non-actionable.

As stated above, a lease agreement is can be confusing even to the most scholarly person, especially in a commercial lease. Prior to signing a commercial lease agreement as either a Landlord or a Tenant, you should speak to one of our Houston Real Estate Contract Lawyers. Our Houston Landlord Tenant Attorneys will be able to assist you in drafting and negotiating a contract that is fair and equitable for both parties to avoid potential lawsuit. At the same time, if you have a leasing dispute, irrespective of whether you are a Landlord or a Tenant, please contact our Houston Commercial Litigation Attorneys and our Northwest Houston Real Estate Lease Lawyers to resolve your concerns and disputes. To learn more about our attorneys and services, please feel free to contact us at 713-517-6645 or through our online inquiry page.

DISCLAIMER

The information above is NOT intended to replace a personal consultation with our Houston Real Estate Lawyers and our Spring Houston Real Estate Litigation Attorneys. Readers should not construe the information as a consultation. There may be other legal issues based on the specific fact of each case. Every case is unique and our Houston Landlord & Tenants Attorneys and our West Houston Landlord and Tenants Litigation Lawyers need to review the facts and circumstances of each individual case in order to provide a meaningful personal consultation. Please feel free to give us a call at 713-517-6645 or complete our Contact Form.

Serving Clients in Houston, West Houston, Southwest Houston, Sugar Land, Katy, Copperfield, Memorial, Spring, Northwest Houston, Northchase, Spring Cypress, Champion Forest, The Woodlands, Kingwood, Humble, Lake Houston, Midtown, Memorial, West Oaks, Royal Oaks, Clear Lake, League City, Westchase Business District, Harris County, and Galveston County.