Commercial Lease Agreement Addendum — Maintenance Modification — RPI Form 552-6

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This form is used by a leasing agent or landlord as an addendum when negotiating a commercial lease agreement on terms for maintenance differing from the Gross or Net terms provided by the form agreement, to modify the terms of the lease agreement regarding the allocation of responsibilities for maintenance and other property expenses between the landlord and tenant.

Your use of RPI Form 552-6

Commercial lease agreement

A lease agreement conveying possession to real estate for a period exceeding one year is only enforceable when evidenced in a written document signed by the landlord and the tenant — a statute of frauds requirement. [CC §1624(a)(3)]

In an analysis, provisions in a lease agreement are separated into three categories of landlord and tenant activities:

conveyance of the leasehold interest;
money obligations of the tenant for payment of rent and property operating expenses; and
responsibility of the tenant and the landlord for care and maintenance of the property. [See RPI Form 552]

Further, commercial lease agreements exist in many variations. The landlord and tenant choose one based on:

whether the property is for single or multi-tenant use;
the type of tenancy conveyed; and
who is responsible for maintenance.

Realty Publications, Inc. (RPI) publishes and maintains gross and net lease agreements tailored to common variations in commercial rental and lease agreements, including:

Single Tenant Gross Lease [See RPI Form 552];
Multi-Tenant Gross Lease [See RPI Form 552-1];
Single Tenant Net Lease [See RPI Form 552-2];
Multi-Tenant Net Lease [See RPI Form 552-3];
Percentage Lease [See RPI Form 552-4]; and
Month-to-Month Tenancy. [See RPI Form 552-5]

A landlord and tenant may further customize and modify their lease agreements with different addenda, such as:

Maintenance Modification Addendum [See RPI Form 552-6];
Alienation Addendum [See RPI Form 552-7]; and
Subordination Addendum. [See RPI Form 552-8]

To be enforceable, a lease agreement:

identifies the location of the leased premises with reasonable certainty;
sets forth the term of the tenancy conveyed; and
states the rental amount and other sums due, and the time, place and manner of payment. [Levin Saroff (1921) 54 CA 285]

Overview of the commercial lease addenda

Addenda are used to modify, clarify or add terms to an existing boilerplate lease agreement form.

Landlords and property managers have multiple options available to modify a commercial lease agreement, including:

use a pre-printed form tailored to the specific purpose requiring the addendum [See RPI Form 552-6, 552-7 and 552-8]; or
use a generic addendum form to enter terms when a boilerplate addendum does not contain those terms. [See RPI Form 550-1]

The boilerplate addenda used with a commercial lease agreement include:

Maintenance Modification, which allocates the responsibilities and expenses for maintenance of the leased property between the landlord and tenant when they differ from the terms set out in the boilerplate lease agreement. [See RPI Form 552-6];
Alienation of Leasehold, which requires the landlord’s consent for the tenant to assign, sublet or further encumber their leasehold interest in the property [See RPI Form 552-7]; and
Lender Subordination and Attornment Provisions, which repositions the priority of the tenant’s leasehold rights as junior or senior to a mortgage encumbering the property and requires the tenant to recognize the lender or buyer in a foreclosure of a mortgage on the landlord’s fee interest as the new landlord. [See RPI Form 552-8]

Analyzing the maintenance modification

A landlord or property manager uses the Commercial Lease Agreement Addendum — Maintenance Modification published by RPI when negotiating a commercial lease agreement on terms for maintenance differing from the terms provided for maintenance in the boilerplate form lease agreement. The maintenance addendum allows the leasing agent or landlord to modify the terms of the lease agreement regarding the allocation of responsibilities and expenses for maintenance of the property between the landlord and tenant. [See RPI Form 552-6]

The Commercial Lease Agreement Addendum — Maintenance Modification contains:

Facts: the date of the commercial lease agreement, the landlord’s and tenant’s names, and the real estate involved [See RPI Form 552-6 §1];
Repair and maintenance: a list of components and equipment the tenant is responsible for maintaining, including:
- HVAC;
- electrical systems;
- exterior walls;
- plate glass in exterior walls;
- governmental mandated retrofitting;
- plumbing and sewers;
- structural foundations;
- store front; and
- roof [See RPI Form 552-6 §2];
Blank: a blank space for listing additional terms on the landlord and tenant’s responsibility for maintenance and property expenses; and
Signatures: the landlord and tenant sign and date the form. The addendum is then attached to the commercial lease agreement.