Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida
Commercial lease renewal-Can landlord obligate tenant to refrain from selling pr
Tenant's commercial lease is up for renewal. The new lease is identical in all aspects except for one additional new clause. The new clause obligates the tenant to refrain from selling any products made of a particular material. Tenant has been selling products made of the material at issue throughout the term of the current lease. The new clause also specifically names a third party, who is also a tenant, as the only tenant with "exclusive rights" to sell products made of the particular material at issue. Products made of this meterial can be purchased at any entity where these products are typically sold.The third party tenant and the tenant faced with renewal do not have any business history;therefore a non compete clause does not exist. Third party tenant has been leasing from landlord for many years before tenant who is up for renewal.
There are 18 other tenants who share the same landlord. Within these 18 tenants, several of them sell products made of metrials identical to material's of products sold by their coleagues.
Question? Does Landlord have legal enforceable authority to obligate tenant to comply with what appears to be an arbitrary and capricious new clause?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Landlord's right to restrict tenants use of premises.
Q. Does a Landlord have legal enforceable authority to require tenant to comply with new clause to refrain from selling any products made of a particular material?
A. Likely YES. In Fla., the law does not protect commercial tenants as much as residential tenants and landlords can impose requirements that are more restrictive. For example, a shopping center may give an exclusive right to a restaurant that the will be no other establishment who can sell food in the center or a theatre that it will be the only one. Certainly, a landlord could restrict the sale of dangerous compounds or chemicals such as flameable or explosive materials. If your lease contains such a restriction and you don't want to comply, then don't rent there. If you do, you may spend allot of money in fighting an eviction or defending a damage claim.
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