The lease is signed: the dates, bills and clauses to track for the next five years

Start with a one-page summary of what you signed

After signing a commercial lease, the most valuable thing you can do is turn it into a one-page summary and a calendar of critical dates: when rent starts and increases, when operating expense reconciliations arrive and how long you have to question them, when insurance certificates are due, when renewal or termination options must be exercised, and what you must do when you leave. Most of the money tenants lose after signing comes from missed dates and unread bills, not from bad negotiation. A summary that lives on one page gets checked; a lease that lives in a drawer does not.

I have worked in commercial real estate since 1999, beginning at The Staubach Company, and as a retail business owner I have lived with a lease month to month. The habits below are the ones I encourage every client to set up in the first week, while the lease is still fresh.

• Parties, premises, square footage and permitted use
• Commencement date, rent start date and any free rent period
• Base rent schedule with every escalation date
• Operating expense structure, your share and any caps
• Who repairs and replaces what, including heating and cooling equipment
• Insurance you must carry and the certificates the landlord requires
• Options, their notice windows and how rent is set
• Notice addresses and the required method of delivery

Put the critical dates where someone will see them

Every important date in the lease should go on a shared calendar with reminders well in advance, assigned to a named person rather than to the office in general. Owners change roles, bookkeepers leave, and a date that lived in one person's memory disappears with them. I suggest setting a first reminder several months ahead of any option deadline and a second one a few weeks before it.

The dates that cost the most when missed are option notice deadlines. Many leases require written notice to renew or expand by a fixed date, sometimes many months before expiration, and missing it can mean losing the option entirely. Next on the list are audit windows for operating expense reconciliations, which are often short, and the end of any free rent period, when the full payment starts whether or not you are ready.

Store the signed lease, every amendment, the landlord's consent letters and all formal notices in one place that more than one person can reach. When a question comes up three years from now, the answer is usually in a document that someone signed and filed somewhere else.

Before you open the doors

Make sure the business can legally occupy the space before you move in. Cities control this through occupancy permits. The City of Dallas, for example, states that a new certificate of occupancy is required for a change of tenant on an existing certificate, as well as for a change of use or a change in floor area, and other cities across the area have their own requirements. Find out who is responsible for obtaining it under your lease and build the time into your schedule.

When the landlord's work is complete, walk the space with the landlord or the builder and make a written punch list of anything unfinished or damaged. Take dated photos and video of every room, the storefront, the restrooms and the mechanical equipment. That record protects you at move-out, when the question becomes what condition the space was in when you received it.

Set up the practical accounts early as well: utilities in your company's name if the lease requires it, internet service, alarm monitoring, access cards and keys. Confirm with the landlord how after-hours access and after-hours heating and cooling are requested and billed. These details seem small until the first week, when a missing key card or a utility left in the previous tenant's name stops the business from opening on time.

Reading the annual reconciliation instead of just paying it

If your lease passes through operating expenses, you will receive a reconciliation statement after each year closes, comparing what you paid in estimates with your share of actual costs. Many tenants simply pay the balance. Instead, compare it with the prior year, look for new categories or large jumps, check that your share is calculated with the square footage in your lease, and confirm that excluded items, such as capital improvements the lease does not allow to be passed through, are not included.

Property taxes deserve a separate look because they can drive large changes. The Texas Comptroller notes that an owner who receives an appraisal notice must send a copy to a tenant who leases real property, and that a tenant obligated to reimburse taxes can ask the appraisal district to send the notice directly. My guide on how Texas property taxes reach commercial tenants explains how to use that information, and my guide on the full cost of commercial space lists the other expenses to check.

• Compare each category with the prior year
• Confirm your share uses the square footage stated in the lease
• Check that excluded costs are not included
• Match the tax figure to the actual tax bill
• Note the deadline for questioning the statement or requesting an audit

Insurance certificates and the requirements behind them

Commercial leases usually require the tenant to carry specific insurance, such as general liability and coverage for your own property and improvements, with minimum limits, and to name the landlord as an additional insured. Landlords typically ask for a certificate of insurance before move-in and again at every renewal. A lapsed certificate can put you in technical default, and an uninsured loss can be far worse.

Send the insurance section of your lease to your insurance agent, not just a summary, and ask them to confirm in writing that your policies meet every requirement. Put the renewal date on the calendar and ask the agent to send the updated certificate to the landlord automatically each year.

Repairs, maintenance and the notice clause

Know who is responsible for what before something breaks. Many leases make the tenant responsible for maintaining the heating and cooling equipment serving its space and require a regular service contract, while the landlord handles the roof and structure. Others divide the work differently. Keep service records, because they may be required by the lease and they matter if a replacement dispute arises later.

When you need the landlord to act, follow the notice clause exactly. A phone call to the property manager is useful for getting something fixed, but the lease usually specifies written notice to a particular address by particular methods. If the problem is serious or recurring, send that formal notice and keep a copy. Disputes are much easier to resolve when the paper trail matches what the lease requires.

When the business changes in the middle of the term

Businesses grow, shrink, merge and sell during a lease term. If you need more space, check whether the lease gives you an expansion right or a right of first refusal on adjacent space, and raise the subject early. If you need less, or need to move, look at the assignment and subletting clause before you make plans; most leases require the landlord's consent, and Texas law also restricts subletting without it.

If you plan to sell the business, the lease can be one of the first things a buyer asks about, and an assignment clause that requires landlord approval adds time to the sale. Talk with your broker and attorney before you sign a letter of intent with a buyer. If you are weighing how much of this to handle yourself, my guide on negotiating a commercial lease without a broker covers where professional help pays for itself.

The renewal decision starts earlier than you think

Treat the halfway point of your term as the time to start thinking about what comes next. By then, you know whether the space works, and you can begin watching the market. Well before your option notice deadline, decide whether you plan to stay, expand, shrink or move, so you can negotiate with real alternatives instead of against the clock.

My earlier guide on renewing, relocating or buying when a lease runs out walks through that decision in detail. The tenants who get the best renewals are almost always the ones who started early and kept good records throughout the term.

Moving out without losing the deposit

Read the surrender clause well before your last month. Many leases require the tenant to remove its furniture, cabling, signage and sometimes improvements, and to return the space in a specified condition. Compare the space with your move-in photos, repair damage beyond normal wear, and schedule a walk-through with the landlord before you hand over the keys.

Texas law sets a deadline for returning a commercial security deposit. Texas Property Code Section 93.005 requires the landlord to refund the deposit no later than the 60th day after the tenant surrenders the premises and provides notice of the tenant's forwarding address, subject to the lease and any lawful deductions. Give that forwarding address in writing and keep proof that you sent it. If you are in Dallas–Fort Worth and want a second set of eyes on a lease you have just signed, or on a renewal coming up, I work from McKinney with tenants and owners across the area, and a review of your lease summary is a good place to start.

Questions people ask me