A Commercial Lease Agreement is a formal document between a landlord and a tenant to rent business property. If the tenant plans to operate a business on the landlord’s premises, this agreement allows both parties to formalize the lease and their relationship through a legally recognized document.

A commercial lease agreement assumes the property is being used for business purposes and not for residential living. The property being leased can be a simple office, an entire building, an independent retail store, a new restaurant, or even a large warehouse for industrial purposes like a manufacturing factory or self-storage facility. If the property being leased is part of a larger building, the landlord can address special concerns and duties about common areas such as parking spaces or lobby areas.

A residential lease agreement may need to follow consumer protection laws that put caps on how much landlords may charge for security deposits or protect tenants’ basic rights to hot water and heating or air conditioning. In contrast, state laws governing business leases often do not impose such minimum or maximum requirements on landlords. Even if your state has specific requirements and procedures that apply to commercial landlords and tenants, in some instances a lease agreement might continue to trump the default laws.

If the commercial property tenant is operating a business open to the public and hires more than 15 people, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies and requires doors be widened or ramps be installed