If the current economic times have hit your business hard, you are not alone. Numerous individuals and businesses have found themselves carefully tracking profits and losses, and you may be among the many feeling the tight grip of financial uncertainty. Though you believe that your business can continue, you know that some changes need to occur.

One change you may have on your mind is restructuring your commercial lease. The amount of rent you pay to utilize your current space could put you in a bind, but you know that you could face penalties for breaking a lease early. However, restructuring could allow you to remain in your current space without completely breaking the lease, but your landlord would have to agree to new terms.

Negotiation is key

Though you feel like you have strong reasons to restructure your lease, your landlord may not immediately see the issue from your side. After all, your landlord wants to make money too. So most likely, your landlord will not simply hear your request and immediately agree to restructure your lease terms. Fortunately, you can try to negotiate to reach favorable outcomes for both of you. Some tips for negotiation include the following:

• Have a plan for new terms in mind. If you request a restructure without any idea of what the new terms should be, your landlord may not take your request seriously.
• Consider the likelihood of your landlord consenting to the restructure. In particular, consider the loan your landlord has for the commercial space because a newer loan could mean that a lender has more control over the space than the landlord.
• Show your landlord that the restructure could benefit both of you by explaining that a rent reduction would allow you to continue occupying the space, preventing your landlord from having a vacancy generating no rental income.
• Determine whether a restructure will realistically help your situation. If rent reduction or other changes will not help you get out of financial trouble, it may not be worth the effort.

Many people think that because their commercial leases are legally binding documents that they are stuck with the terms they have. Luckily, that is not always the case. With willing parties on both sides, lease restructuring could prove useful to all involved.

Not feeling confident?

If you do not feel confident in your ability to successfully negotiate a lease restructure, you do not have to feel without hope. You could enlist the help of an experienced Florida attorney who could help you approach your situation confidently and assist you with the negotiations process.

Making a bid on a new construction project can be an important time for your company. After all, getting projects is how you and your company make money. If you do land the job, you will likely have to agree to certain contract terms, and you will want to set forth some yourself. Unfortunately, the chance exists that mistakes could exist in a contract.

Even if you feel like you have done a thorough job of reviewing the contract, an error could still rear its ugly head later. If this does happen, you could face the risk of losing out on payment or facing other costly issues, or the other party could claim that you breached the contract, which can also cause serious problems.

What kind of mistake could occur?

Though contract mistakes are best avoided, they do happen. In some cases, it means that companies have to go to court in order to have the matter resolved. If so, the type of mistake that has occurred could affect the case, and those types include the following:

• Mutual mistake: You or the other party could claim that both parties involved made an error, thus rendering the contract invalid. For example, both parties may have signed the agreement believing in the soundness of the construction site, but your company may have later found issues with the site that affected your ability to move forward with the project.
• Unilateral mistake: This type of mistake occurs when only one party is mistaken about an element of the contract or project. However, grounds may exist to void the contract if the other party knew of the mistake of fact and did not correct the mistaken party.

In some cases, a mistake in a contractual agreement has remedies that can quickly resolve the issue. On the other hand, the situation could become more complex, and it may prove necessary to argue for the voiding of the contract altogether.

What can you do?

If you find yourself involved in a contractual agreement for a construction project and a mutual or unilateral error has occurred, you would be wise to protect your interests. To do so, you may want to contact an experienced Florida attorney who could assess your situation to determine how the error may have occurred and who could hold responsibility. Your legal counsel could also help you determine your best course of action for correcting the problem.