Multistate Commercial Leasing

Summary

This practice note discusses multistate commercial leasing, which is when landlords own commercial buildings in multiple states and prefer to use a single, uniform lease form for ease of administration and to reduce costs. Because the laws governing office and retail leases vary by jurisdiction, landlords will often develop a base lease that they can modify by jurisdiction, though the number of necessary revisions can vary widely. Given the presumed sophistication of the parties, some states and municipalities that regulate residential leasing quite extensively have enacted little in the way of real estate law protections for commercial lease transactions, and in some places, relatively few modifications will be needed.