How much does a commercial lease review cost in El Paso?

We charge a flat fee for reviewing a standard retail, office or warehouse lease and delivering a written issues memo, and a second flat fee if you want us to negotiate the redline with the landlord. Both are quoted before we begin. For most El Paso businesses the review fee is well under one month's rent.

Should I sign a commercial lease personally or through my LLC?

Through the LLC whenever possible, so the entity and not you is the tenant. Most landlords will still ask for a personal guaranty; the goal is to limit it to a set number of months or have it burn off after two or three years of on-time rent. If you have not formed an LLC yet, we can do that before the lease is signed.

What does NNN or triple net mean in a Texas commercial lease?

In a triple-net lease the tenant pays base rent plus its share of the property's taxes, insurance and common area maintenance. Those pass-through charges can rise sharply after a reappraisal or a major repair. We negotiate caps on annual CAM increases, exclude capital expenditures, and require an annual reconciliation with audit rights so El Paso tenants are not overbilled.

Can a landlord lock out a business tenant in Texas?

Yes, if the tenant is delinquent in rent and the lease permits it. Property Code Section 93.002 requires the landlord to post a notice on the front door stating where the new key can be obtained during business hours. A lockout done without following the statute, or for reasons other than unpaid rent, entitles the tenant to damages, and a court can order the tenant back in.

Do I have to go to court for a commercial lease?

No. Reviewing, negotiating and signing a commercial lease is a transactional matter handled entirely from our El Paso office. Court is only involved if the relationship later breaks down into an eviction or a suit for unpaid rent, and a well-negotiated lease with cure periods and clear default terms is the best protection against that.

Commercial Lease Lawyer El Paso

Commercial Leases in El Paso — Know What You Are Signing Before You Open the Doors

Drafting, review and negotiation of retail, office, restaurant, warehouse and industrial leases for El Paso business owners and property owners — CAM charges, personal guaranties, build-out and renewal terms explained and negotiated for a flat fee.

Last reviewed by Robert Andrew Navar, Esq. · State Bar of Texas

A commercial lease is usually the largest financial commitment a small business in El Paso makes, often bigger than its startup loan. A five-year lease on a strip center space on Montana, a restaurant on the Westside, a warehouse near the Zaragoza bridge or an office suite off Mesa can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent, plus common area maintenance, taxes, insurance and a personal guaranty that follows the owner even if the business closes. Landlords write these leases in their favor, and unlike residential tenants, business tenants get almost no statutory protection.

Texas Property Code Chapter 93 covers commercial tenancies, but it is short and mostly permissive: it addresses security deposit returns within 60 days under Section 93.005, landlord lockout rules under Section 93.002, and little else. Nearly everything is left to the contract. That means the lease itself decides who pays for a broken HVAC unit, whether rent escalates every year, what happens if the anchor tenant leaves, whether the tenant can assign the lease when selling the business, and how much of a personal guaranty survives. Chapter 54 gives landlords a statutory lien on the tenant's property for unpaid rent, and Chapter 24 governs eviction of commercial tenants just as it does residential ones.

For tenants, we review the landlord's draft, explain every clause in plain English or Spanish, and negotiate the terms that matter most: a cap on CAM increases, a limited or burn-off personal guaranty, an early termination or relocation right, exclusive-use protection, assignment rights for a future sale, and a clear build-out and rent-abatement schedule. For El Paso landlords, we draft a lease that protects the property, complies with Chapter 93 lockout and deposit rules, and gives clean default remedies. None of this involves court. The cost of a flat-fee review is a small fraction of one month's rent, and the concessions it typically produces pay for it many times over.

The clauses that cost El Paso business owners the most

Triple-net (NNN) leases pass taxes, insurance and common area maintenance to the tenant with no cap, so a reappraisal by the El Paso Central Appraisal District or a parking lot repaving lands on your rent bill. Unlimited personal guaranties keep the owner liable for the full remaining term after the business fails. Relocation clauses let the landlord move you to a worse space. Use clauses drafted too narrowly prevent you from adding a product line. Holdover rent at 150 or 200 percent punishes a late move-out. Each of these is negotiable before signing and almost impossible to change afterward.

Lockouts, deposits and defaults under Texas Property Code Chapter 93

Unlike residential landlords, a commercial landlord in Texas may change the locks on a tenant who is behind on rent under Section 93.002, but only if the lease allows it and a notice with the location of the new key is posted on the front door. A lockout that violates the statute exposes the landlord to damages and attorney fees. Deposits must be returned within 60 days after surrender under Section 93.005, less itemized deductions. Because these remedies are so fast, tenants need cure periods written into the lease, and landlords need the lease to spell out exactly when a default occurs and what notice is required before locks change or an eviction notice goes out.

What's included

Full review of the proposed lease, exhibits and guaranty with a written issues memo
Plain-language explanation of rent, CAM, escalation, renewal and termination terms
Negotiation of changes with the landlord or tenant, including a proposed redline
Drafting of a landlord-side lease compliant with Property Code Chapters 93 and 24
Personal guaranty review and negotiation of caps or burn-off provisions
Coordination with your LLC formation so the lease is signed by the entity, not you personally

How it works

Send the lease

Email us the proposed lease, letter of intent and any exhibits. We confirm the flat fee and the turnaround, usually two to four business days for an initial review.

Review and strategy call

You receive an issues memo ranking the problems by dollar impact. We meet by phone, Zoom or at our El Paso office to decide what to push for and what to accept.

Negotiate and sign

We send the redline to the other side, negotiate the language, and confirm the final version matches what was agreed before your business or entity signs.