Page 14 - NBIZ August 2021

TEXAS

“AS IS”

AND

THE WAIVER

OF THE

IMPLIED

WARRANTY

OF SUITABILITY

By Brian D. Womac

e all have heard about “AS IS”
provisions in real estate trans-
actions. Sellers of real estate
have put the “AS IS” provisions
in deeds for decades to protect
Wthem from buyers who find de-
fects in the property after the sale. But did you know
that a similar “AS IS” language can protect a landlord
in the leasing of commercial property? Does the lease
form have the landlord adequately protected?
If a landlord owns commercial lease space, he/
she needs to make sure the lease is strong enough
to protect him/her from tenants that claim that the
landlord is in default for defects and conditions that
existed before or arose after the lease was signed.
Texas contract law allows parties in a commercial
lease to negotiate freely for terms and conditions
that in a residential lease, might not be valid.
Besides the rent amount, one of the most import-
ant provisions to the commercial landlord from a
legal perspective is the representation set out in
the lease regarding the premises being leased to
the tenant and the tenant’s waiver of the implied
warranty of suitability.

14 NBIZ ■ August 2021