Page 8 - NBIZ Magazine April 2021

Commercial Tenant’s

Abandoned Property

By Brian D. Womac

t is one thing to find a tenant’s premises abandoned. It is abandoned the premises if goods, equipment, or other
quite another to find the tenant gone but the premises still property, in an amount substantial enough to indicate a
Ifull of FF&E (Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment). So, if probable intent to abandon the premises, is being or has
one’s tenant is gone and the premises is full of files, fixtures, been removed from the premises and the removal was not
furniture, and/or equipment, what does one do? What are the in the normal course of the tenant’s business. Experienced
landlord’s rights in regards to this abandoned property? property managers know when a tenant has abandoned the
For purposes of this article, one can assume that the premises even during these unprecedented times. Still, if the
tenant has abandoned the property and stopped paying tenant left furniture and other property in place, has there
rent under a commercial lease. Most commercial leases been an abandonment? Non-payment of rent plus failure to
allow a landlord to treat a tenant’s abandonment as an event occupy the premises will most likely constitute an event(s) of
of default. Commercial landlords have significantly more default in commercial leases. The commercial lease controls
rights than a residential landlord. To fully understand the the parties’ rights and obligations. When one thinks there
rights commercial landlords have in regards to an aban- might be an abandonment, look to the lease to determine the
doned property in the great state of Texas, one has to look at possible remedies.
different scenarios.
Terminate First
Abandoned or Not? Most landlords would want to retake the premises upon
First, how does a landlord know if the tenant has truly abandonment. Retaking the premises after the tenant
abandoned the premises and is not just working from home abandons them during the lease term is highly recom-
during the pandemic? The Texas Property Code states mended to protect the premises and start the reletting
that a tenant is presumed to have

8 NBIZ ■ April 2021