Your commercial lease is one of the most important contracts your business will sign — and its terms are almost always negotiable. At Mehdipour Law, our Los Angeles lease negotiation attorneys help tenants and business owners understand, negotiate, and improve lease terms before they commit. A landlord’s standard lease is written to protect the landlord; with the right guidance, you can level the playing field and avoid costly surprises down the road.
How we help with commercial leases
- Review lease terms and flag unfavorable clauses before you sign
- Negotiate rent, escalations, build-out allowances, and renewal options
- Clarify maintenance, CAM charges, and repair responsibilities
- Address personal-guaranty, assignment, and early-termination provisions
- Explain your rights and obligations in plain language
Because a lease is a specialized kind of contract, our work here overlaps with our broader contract and real estate practices — and we bring that combined experience to every lease we review.
Lease terms worth negotiating
Tenants often assume the lease they’re handed is final. It rarely is. These are the terms where careful negotiation can save you the most money and risk over the life of the lease:
Base rent and annual escalations
Beyond the headline rent, pay close attention to how much it rises each year. A seemingly small annual escalation compounds significantly over a five- or ten-year term.
CAM charges and operating expenses
Common Area Maintenance charges can add substantially to your monthly cost. We push for caps on controllable expenses and clear definitions of what you are — and aren’t — responsible for.
Tenant improvement and build-out allowances
If the space needs work before you can use it, the lease should spell out who pays for improvements and how much the landlord will contribute.
Renewal and expansion options
Options to renew or expand protect your investment in the location. We make sure the terms and pricing of those options are defined now, not left to a future negotiation from a weaker position.
Personal guaranties
Landlords often ask business owners to personally guarantee the lease, putting your personal assets at risk. We work to limit, cap, or remove personal guaranties wherever possible.
Assignment, subletting, and early termination
Business needs change. Flexible assignment, sublease, and termination rights give you an exit if you need to move, downsize, or sell.
Common lease traps we help you avoid
- Uncapped CAM and pass-through costs that make your true monthly expense unpredictable.
- Broad personal guaranties that expose your home and savings to business risk.
- Vague repair and maintenance clauses that leave you responsible for the roof or HVAC.
- Automatic renewals that lock you in unless you give notice at exactly the right time.
- Relocation clauses that let the landlord move you to a less desirable space.
- Missing exclusivity or use protections that let a competitor open next door.
What to expect when we negotiate your lease
We start by learning about your business, your budget, and how long you plan to stay. We then review the proposed lease line by line, prepare a list of the terms most worth changing, and negotiate directly with the landlord or their broker. Once we’ve reached fair terms, we make sure the final document reflects exactly what was agreed before you sign. Most lease reviews move quickly, and getting it right up front is far less expensive than trying to fix a bad lease later.
Flat-fee options
For many lease reviews and negotiations, we offer flat-fee pricing so you know the cost before we begin — no hourly surprises. For larger or more complex leases, we’ll discuss the best fee arrangement up front. Either way, the cost of getting your lease right is small compared to the money at stake over the term.
Frequently asked questions
Are commercial lease terms really negotiable?
Yes. Almost every term in a commercial lease — rent, escalations, improvement allowances, guaranties, and more — can be negotiated. Landlords expect it, especially from represented tenants.
Should I have a lawyer review my lease before signing?
Absolutely. A commercial lease is a long-term financial commitment, and the standard form favors the landlord. A review before signing is the single best way to protect yourself.
Do you handle residential leases too?
Our lease negotiation practice focuses on commercial leases, but we help tenants and property owners with a range of lease and real estate matters. Reach out and we’ll let you know how we can help.
What does a lease negotiation cost?
Many lease reviews and negotiations are available on a flat fee. We’ll quote you before we begin so there are no surprises.
Why choose Mehdipour Law
We understand both the legal and the practical sides of a commercial lease. You’ll work directly with an attorney who explains your options clearly, negotiates hard on the terms that matter, and helps you sign with confidence rather than second-guessing.
Talk to a Los Angeles lease negotiation lawyer
Before you sign a commercial lease, let us review it. Call (310) 556-9692 or email us for help understanding and improving your lease terms.
Commercial Lease Resources
These are my own working notes on the lease provisions that decide the most money, written for business tenants rather than for other lawyers. They reflect my interpretation and experience, not legal advice.
- Why a lease review before signing matters — what a review covers and when to get one
- Personal guarantees: what to negotiate — good guy guarantees, caps, burn-off clauses, and survival on assignment
- CAM charges: what you actually pay — caps, audit rights, proportionate share, and base-year gross-up traps
- Assignment and subletting — the clause that decides whether you can ever sell the business
- Who pays for the HVAC and roof — maintain versus replace, and how capital costs get shifted to tenants
What I look at first in any lease
When a commercial lease comes across my desk, I do not start at page one. I go straight to a handful of provisions where the exposure is concentrated, because that is where the difference between a good deal and an expensive one usually sits.
- The personal guarantee. Usually a separate exhibit near the back, and in my view the single most consequential term for a small business or new entity. Whether it is capped, whether it burns off over time, and whether it survives an assignment all matter enormously.
- CAM and operating expense definitions. The quoted rent is rarely what you pay. What counts as a common area charge, whether increases are capped, and how your proportionate share is calculated are all negotiable and frequently mispriced by tenants.
- Assignment and subletting. If you ever want to sell the business, this clause determines whether you can. Consent standards that are not tied to reasonableness can effectively trap you.
- Repair and maintenance obligations. Particularly HVAC and roof. A lease that makes the tenant responsible for replacing a system at the end of its life can convert a modest space into a capital expense.
- Holdover provisions. Penalty rent of one and a half or two times base rent is common; longer or uncapped holdover exposure is worth negotiating.
- Use clause and exclusivity. Whether you can change what you do in the space, and whether the landlord can lease to a direct competitor next door.
When to involve me
Earlier than most people do. Terms are far more movable at the letter of intent stage than after a lease has been drafted around an agreed LOI, and a landlord who has already conceded on rent is generally less willing to reopen anything else. If you have an LOI in hand, that is the right moment.
Lease and contract review is generally handled on an hourly or flat-fee basis rather than a contingency, and I will give you a sense of scope before starting. Call (310) 556-9692.
This page provides general information about commercial leases in California and is not legal advice. For advice about your specific lease, please contact our office.
