Commercial lease space regarding hvac question....

[holysmoke]

I was wondering when you lease a space does the landlord make you be responsible for the HVAC system when it breaks down? What is the standard procedures out there when leasing a space.
The unit is over 20 years old and already has issues now and will be fixed when I take over the lease but landlord still wants me liable if it breaks down during the time that I have the lease.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Ms.FemmeFatale]

I was wondering when you lease a space does the landlord make you be responsible for the HVAC system when it breaks down? What is the standard procedures out there when leasing a space.
The unit is over 20 years old and already has issues now and will be fixed when I take over the lease but landlord still wants me liable if it breaks down during the time that I have the lease.

Thanks for the help.

What does the lease say?

 

[holysmoke]

landlord wants me to pay up to 4000 bucks to repair any damage to the HVAC system. I m negotiating the lease now and need to know if the landlord should be responsible or the tenant.

 

[Ms.FemmeFatale]

landlord wants me to pay up to 3500 bucks to repair any damage to the HVAC system. I m negotiating the lease now and need to know if the landlord should be responsible or the tenant.

If you are negotiating then you can negotiate what you want and if he likes it he will take it, if not then he will move on and find a new tenant.

If the system is damaged now, and he is doing some patch job repair, I would not be agreeing. Seems an easy way for you to do it and pay for it later. It could need a completely overhaul. As a HVAC contractor come out and looked at it and gave his recommendation? I would think that would be first the step. If it was all new and no problems would arise other then usual, then fine but this is not the case. It could be in a need of a total over all. Is it still up to code, etc? Where did he get the $3500 from?

Just some things to ask.

 

[Luton]

Acting for Landlords I can say that in the majority of commercial leases the lease is normally net net so that Tenant would be responsible for all repairs and replacements to the HVAC system. If it is a major repair the Landlord will normally amortize it for a period of time. The time to make a deal is now while negotiating the terms of a new deal. Several factors to consider:
1. Be firm and have the Landlord responsible for HVAC.
2. Consider a period of time the Landlord is solely responsible ie 1, 2 or 3 years and thereafter you are only responsible for an amortized amount per year of the life of the system.
3. You agree to the Landlord's terms if you want the space bad enough.

 

[Luton]

Sorry I should also say it is common for a tenant to ask that all systems such as HVAC be in good working order at the commencement of the term. But like any deal between two parties it is what is negotiated between them. Nothing is cast in stone.

 

[james t kirk]

I was wondering when you lease a space does the landlord make you be responsible for the HVAC system when it breaks down? What is the standard procedures out there when leasing a space.
The unit is over 20 years old and already has issues now and will be fixed when I take over the lease but landlord still wants me liable if it breaks down during the time that I have the lease.

Thanks for the help.

I was in the exact same boat.

I figured the HVAC was the landlord's problem, however, I learned that this kind of BS weasel clause is fairly common.

The Real Estate Agent told me to have the system inspected, so I called up a reputable HVAC company to inspect. They found that one unit was in very sad shape, old (like 30 years old) and not maintained. The other unit was virtually new.

So I struck a deal with the Land Lord (who seems like a decent guy) that I would agree to be on the hook for the new unit, but not the old unit. But if and when the old unit popped its clock, then I would be on the hook for the new unit.

If I recall, it was something like 7% of the cost of the damn thing added onto the rent each year until it was paid off.

 

[holysmoke]

What's the cost to have an inspection from the Hvac company in Toronto?