Re: Lease - rental agreement - corp rental - Landlord Forum thread 326435

Re: Lease - rental agreement - corp rental by MrDan (Georgia) on October 28, 2014 @20:00

If you have never done a corporate lease, you might need some legal advice as things have to be done correcty to protect the landlords interest. Some things to be aware of,

The first step that a landlord must take before ever signing a lease with a corporate resident is to verify that the corporation actually exists exactly as the name would appear on the lease; the landlord should also verify principals of the corporation and their designations, typically a specific officer or designated manager. Your Secretary of State Office maintains these records, and it is fairly easy to look up that information online. In some cases, it is advisable for the landlord to obtain the articles of incorporation. Never trust the information provided to you by the corporate contact with whom you are dealing. It is vital that the landlord investigate and verify that the information provided is correct. If the corporate entity does not exist, then the landlord jeopardizes any ability to collect any amounts owed.

When entering into a lease with a corporate resident, the actual names of the occupants should be listed, or else the landlord has no way to verify if those occupants have a criminal history.

The signature on the corporate lease must identify exactly the name of the corporate entity that will be named as the resident under the lease. Additionally, the signature must list the name of the representative with authority who is signing on behalf of the corporate resident. The presumption under law is that if a lease is signed without the designation of the person signing in a corporate representative capacity, then that person is signing the document in an individual capacity. If the landlord does not prepare the lease properly, the corporation may avoid liability for any obligations under the lease.

Make sure the lease and guaranty agreements are properly signed too, so that it is clear who is legally obligated to pay the rent or be responsible for the rent payments in the event rent is not paid if you do a lease.

And so much more...Not to scare you away from doing so, Corporations can be easy or hard to deal with...Run it through an attorney for advice!

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