Utility inclusion mistake

[Leona N.]

Hi, hoping someone can help me out or has some ideas. We have a main level and full basement commercial building. We have rented out the upper floor and the move in is set for next week. We had several different plans for the basement level, none which seem to be working out. We made the mistake of including utilities in the lease as we had plans a few months ago when the lease was being negotiated. Now I'm really regretting including this in the lease but not sure if there is anything I can do. They are wanting to add big lit exterior signage as well as a full network upgrade to their national systems. Then just the day to day power usage, can I tell them or enforce responsible heat/AC use, turning off lights and computers at night somehow? Thank you.

[Karl Dowden]

An opportunity to rectify the problem will likely arise sooner than the 5 year mark. If the tenant wants something from you that they are not entitled to under the lease, then you would be in a position to ask that, in exchange for your agreement to their request, they agree to pay for their utilities (or at least a portion of it so that they will have an incentive to minimize their usage). 

You could also have an attorney review the lease and see if there is anything that can be used to help you rectify the problem sooner.

Best of luck,

Karl