Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: what is a master lease

I think master leases are commonly used in the equipment-leasing business, where lessor and lessee set up a lengthy lease contract spelling out all the terms in detail, then as the lessee needs new stuff, it is added to the master agreement by adding brief "schedules" showing each truck, lathe, railcar, etc. as it is delivered.

You asked your question under the real estate heading, so I assume you need a master lease in that context. If I were to look for one, I'd use the forms diskette (or set of manuals with hard copies) put out by the leading California real estate law publishers, Miller & Starr, to find something close to what I needed, then I'd modify it to suit. One of the nice things about Miller & Starr and other treatise-derived forms is that, unlike stuff you might buy pre-printed from a legal stationer, the treatises and CDs supplied with them explain the purpose of each clause and suggest alternatives for different purposes. They are intended for lawyers, but an intelligent lawperson with experience in real estate deals can make use of them, too (usually, at least).

I see your Zip is close to mine, and if you contact me directly with a few particulars, I might be able to get you started in the right direction.

Re: what is a master lease

Our master lease is a proprietary document, and so I generally do not provide copies to non-clients. If you are interested, I would suggest that you contact Tim Gibbs in our office. His email address is tjgibbs @ gibbslaw.com. [sorry for the strange format for the email address, but this site does not allow us to post email addresses in responses].

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Re: what is a master lease

Master lease merely means the first or primary lease given by a property owner. Typically the master tenant will sublease to others.