Place Limits on When Tenant Abatement Period Will End

Although most leases give tenants the right to a rent abatement when their office or retail space becomes unusable after a fire, flood, or similar casualty, they fail to adequately define when the abatement period will end. Merely saying that the abatement period will continue until the space is no longer “unusable” is vague, and gives the tenant ammunition to take advantage of you. Plug this loophole by placing limits in your lease specifying how long the abatement will last.