Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New Jersey

Re: Leases- What kind to use?

You do not realize this, but renting this property has some serious possible pitfalls for you, the commercial landlord. You need to protect yourself from serious liabilites. What would happen if someone slipped and fell and got hurt at this social club, and filed a lawsuit against you? this is only one single simple example.

You need an attorney to advise you. Please, please hire a lawyer before you allow the tenant to go into your property.

If you would like, give me a call to set up an appointment; I am in northern New Jersey about 1/2 hour from Jersey City. My contact information can be obtained from the links below, just click on the Attorney Profile link. Let my secretary know you found me through LawGuru.

Disclaimer: you can not rely on the advice of an attorney given over the internet. The exact facts of your situation, including facts which you have not mentioned in your question, may completely change the result for your situation.

Re: Leases- What kind to use?

I agree with Mr. Davies' advice and add to it that the proposed use as a "social club" raises some additional questions for me. If you know the tenant well and you know the kinds of people who might be his guests, that is one thing. However, if you have any question about the kinds of social activity that would be taking place, you should think twice about the whole deal. If the property is used for illegal purposes (such as a cover for selling drugs), it can be siezed under the racketeering statutes. So, you can lose the property even though you may be unaware of the illegal activity. Of course if that happened, you could sue the tenant, but any recovery would have to come from his personal funds (that also may be siezed) because neither his nor your insurance will cover you against criminal activity.

Call me suspicious if you like, but I've been around the block a few times with surprise tenants and "just a social club" raises red flags for me.