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I would ask that they add a clause that any rental incentive credit would be deducted from the rent referenced. Then, have a separate agreement for the incentive. Commercial property is valued from the rents received. They want the value to go up, either to refinance or to sell the property. You want a clause referencing “any incentive credits” and a separate agreement for credits in case you need it. This way, the signed lease agreement reflects rent that increases their asset value, but you have signed agreement that you will receive credits. That seems to be a good happy medium instead of a “I pinky promise you will get your credits”, then they sell the property and a new owner or manager tells you “your verbal contract is not worth the paper is it not written on”. I would sell it to them as “you should change your standard lease to read less any available incentive credits. That way all leases have the same language.” If they are questioned, they can say credit language is there for signing a long lease or for a referrals, but if it is on every lease, it looks less conspicuous. If they won’t do that, at least ask for a separate signed agreement for the credits... and expect the property to sell and the rent to keep increasing.
I’m not lawyer but a contract is a contract.
That is a very strange way of handling it. I would push back and ask the lease reflect the amount agreed upon, if they refuse to do this, I would be skeptical.
Get it in the contract itself.
This company has dozens of properties and I have been a tenant for multiple years. The lease agent works specifically for my building. Is their email considered legally binding?
They’re showing it as higher because they want to legally charge a higher base rent for future renewals. Look into your state/local laws for how to proceed.
my rent contract showed the higher rent price, with a clause of X (credit) and the net price (lower). bottomline, have those in the contract and not just email. The one thing you've got to be cautious about is for the subsequent renewals, they may use the higher rent price instead of the net rent price... so maybe ask. It was very common in NYC during the pandemic years
Is it a rent controlled area? They’re trying to protect their annual market rate increase cap when the market rate doesn’t actually support it. If audited, they can show on paper that they are collecting the higher rent. Clever, but shady.
I would report them.