Q: My new commercial lease does not include any terms regarding rent increases. Is there a maximum amount in Maryland?
Lease is one year with automatic renewal.
A: No, commercial leases do not have any statutory or regulatory provisions governing them. There are judicially developed rules for interpreting contracts, including a general "reasonableness" standard, however. But you should have a lawyer review the lease to be sure there is no rent adjustment, and to confirm how the lease is automatically renewed and how you can get out of the lease before it is automatically renewed. Without reading the lease, it is impossible to advise you accurately, but as a general observation, if the landlord chooses to give notice of a rent increase after the initial one year term, then such notice would have to happen before the automatic renewal kicked in, otherwise the landlord should be locked in to the same rent as the first term. Again, you should have a lawyer review the lease itself to be sure you are reading it accurately.
Cedulie Renee Laumann agrees with this answer
A: No, commercial leases don't have caps in this state and generally the terms can be whatever the parties negotiate.
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