Commercial Leases – Important Considerations

When a business signs a lease for a commercial space, it often feels like the big moment — “we’ve found the space, let’s go.” But beneath the surface of that agreement lie many legal considerations that can affect the long-term viability of your investment or operation. 

Whether you’re the landlord or the tenant, taking the time to understand these risks is essential. 

Understanding the Role of the Multiple Listing Service

When searching for a commercial property, many listings are entered through the multiple listing service in Nashville, TN. That system helps brokerages market, search and share information about properties. But the availability or quality of a listing doesn’t always guarantee that the underlying property is free of legal complications:

• The listing may highlight square footage, zoning and location, but omit record title issues.
• A listing in the multiple listing service may not reflect easements or sub-leases affecting the tenant’s use.
• Brokered listings on the multiple listing service in Nashville, TN may lead a tenant or landlord to trust the property without performing full legal due diligence.

Because of these kinds of blind spots, whether you’re looking at a listing through the multiple listing service in Nashville, TN or negotiating your own lease, you’ll want to dig deeper than just the marketing description.

Title Defects

One of the most important legal foundations of a commercial property is the title. If the owner or landlord can’t deliver a valid and marketable title, everything downstream can suffer. Here are some examples of title defects to consider:

• A prior owner may have failed to release a lien, and the property remains encumbered by debt.
• A spouse or co-owner may have failed to sign a deed, creating a “cloud on title.” 
• The legal description may be incorrect, making boundaries ambiguous.
• Ownership may have been transferred incorrectly or undocumented, causing future challenges.

If you’re a tenant signing a long-term lease, you may not think about title issues directly, but you depend on the landlord’s ownership and rights. If a defect emerges later, the lease could be vulnerable or worse, invalidated. 

Boundary Disputes

Especially in urban or redeveloping areas of Nashville, a leased commercial property may share boundaries with adjacent parcels, have rights of way, or be subject to overlapping claims. Boundary disputes can cause serious issues:

• A tenant might discover that a portion of their space overlaps a neighboring parcel or is subject to a shared driveway.
• A landlord might assume a buildable lot when, in fact, a portion of the land is not owned or is under dispute.
• A lease may allocate responsibilities (maintenance, repairs) without specifying which side of the boundary is involved.

It’s not uncommon for leases to refer to “the demised premises” without attaching a clean survey. Without a proper survey or legal review, the tenant or landlord may find themselves working on a portion they don’t control. 

Easements

Easements can be silent killers of a commercial lease. An easement is a right that someone else has to use a portion of the property (for ingress/egress, utilities, storm water, etc.). If you’re a business tenant or a landlord, you need to know:

• Does the property have recorded easements that interfere with the tenant’s use or access?
• Are there unrecorded or historical easements that may surface later?
• Does the lease allocate responsibility for easement-related maintenance or liability?
• Has the landlord represented that no easements exist, when in fact they do (a potential misrepresentation)?

Because easements affect exclusive use, parking, signage, access, and more, they should be identified early. A real estate attorney in Nashville, TN can review title commitment schedules, check for easement documentation, and ensure the lease accurately addresses how easements affect the parties.

Seller (or Landlord) Misrepresentations

In many transactions — especially where the lease is tied to a property purchase or assignment — a landlord (or seller) may make statements about the property’s condition, use rights, zoning, compliance, or absence of legal issues. But when those statements turn out to be false or incomplete, the tenant or buyer may face unexpected risk. Common misrepresentations include:

• The landlord tells the tenant the space has “no deferred maintenance” when major repairs are needed.
• The seller claims there are “no current tenants” when there are sub-leases or holdovers.
• The seller promises the property is zoned for a specific use (e.g., retail) when it isn’t.
• The landlord overlooks or fails to disclose on the lease or in the purchase that there are unresolved boundary or title issues.

These misrepresentations may give rise to legal claims (fraud, breach of warranty, misrepresentation), but only if they are identified and documented. 

This is another area where a real estate attorney plays a key role: reviewing the materials, verifying representations, advising the tenant or buyer, and negotiating protections such as indemnities, cease-use clauses, and termination rights.

About Rochford Law & Real Estate Title and How to Get Started

Rochford Law & Real Estate Title is a Nashville-based firm specializing in real estate law, title services and commercial closings. Whether you’re negotiating a lease, acquiring a property to lease, or dealing with a lease dispute, our team is equipped to guide you through due diligence, drafting, risk allocation and dispute resolution.

If you’re facing a new commercial lease or you’ve entered into one and already have concerns, contact us at Rochford Law & Real Estate Title today for a free consultation.