Things to look out for in commercial leases

I came across an article on the Bar-Ex website written by lawyer William Poulos, talking about a common commercial leasing issue as it applies to a recent case. When does specific language in a lease override general language, or ‘boilerplate’? Commercial leases are often referred to as “carefree net leases”, meaning that tenants pay for all the costs associated with the property as additional rent. Most leases contain boilerplate language to this effect, and the lease at issue in this case was no different. What’s somewhat unusual is that another part of the lease made reference to the landlord being responsible for maintaining the structure of the building, including the roof. This exception became relevant because the roof had to be replaced and the landlord tried to pass this cost along to the tenant in the form of additional rent. He was unsuccessful because of the clause in the tenant’s lease which specifically made this type of maintenance cost the landlord’s responsibility. 

I’ll bet the tenant in this case is really thanking the person who suggested inserting this language about the roof into the lease in the first place.