Spending Money on Attorney Lease Review

I like saving money. Ask my lovely wife how cheap I am, and I am sure you will at least a couple of humorous stories, some dating back to college. For example, in my first apartment I slept on the floor of my room rather than spending money on a bed or even a blanket. I’d still be doing that hundreds of commercial real estate transactions later if I hadn’t married my wife.

So I get it. Landlords and business owners in our great state of South Dakota hate spending money to have an attorney review their lease document prior to execution. Sure, it costs money. Sure it slows the transaction down by a good week at least. But it is definitely worth it. Without legal review, Landlords and Tenants open themselves to tremendous risk. A classic penny wise pound foolish arrangement which can have serious repercussions in the future.  

A good real estate attorney can save you thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars by simply reviewing your lease document from a seasoned legal perspective.

Quite some time ago a got a panicked call from a Landlord I had completed a lease transaction with in the past. The Tenant was in their office asking to be let out of the long term lease agreement due to changes in his organization. After several conversations regarding the subject, my client (Landlord) had decided against my advice to not have their attorney review the lease agreement prior to final review and execution.

It turned out to be a non event. My client was iron clad and in good shape with no issues what so ever. But imagine if they had made a mistake in the Lease drafting that allowed the Tenant to walk free from their commitment. I never asked, but I bet that my client spent that night reviewing their agreement in a cold sweat.

I have other examples that did not turn out well. We’ll save these for another day. Bottom line, spending a little money with your real estate attorney is insurance well spent.