As another first of the month approaches under lockdown, small business owners feeling the crunch from COVID-19 should be having clear and consistent conversations with their landlords.   

According to our panelists on the Navigating Your Commercial Lease During a Disaster webinar, communication between the tenant and their landlord is a two-way street.  

While a small business owner depends on the landlord to provide a space to do business, the landlord depends on their tenant to provide rent payments that allow them to meet their financial obligations. When there are disruptions to these arrangements on either side, there are actions defined in the lease. 

That’s why it’s important to talk openly and honestly about your current capacity to meet the terms of the lease. 

Here are a few tips John Boone of Orchestra Partners gave during our Navigating Your Commercial Lease During a Disaster webinar:  

1. Ask for a rent holiday.  
2. Ask for a rent reduction.  
3. Ask to pay Common Area Maintenace charges only 
4. Ask to have your security deposit applied to your rent 
5. Offer guarantees for customer payment for later 

Watch him, Casey Howard of Harbert Realty and Kaitlyn Bentley of True 40 explain in detail in the above video.