When a commercial building is put up for sale or is financed or refinanced, the landlord may need the tenant's cooperation to provide certain information or documents to a prospective buyer or lender.
The commercial lease may, in particular, stipulate that the tenant must, upon request, confirm certain information concerning the lease, such as its existence, its duration, the amount of rent, the modifications that have been made to it, the sums paid in advance, as well as the existence or absence of defects or claims between the parties.
This information can notably be found in a certificate or declaration given to a prospective buyer or lender.
The lease may also include certain obligations to cooperate regarding visits or inspections of the premises. However, the landlord must exercise their legal and lease-granted access rights reasonably.
In the context of financing or refinancing, the lease may also stipulate certain obligations regarding the relationship between the tenant and the landlord's mortgage creditor.
The nature and extent of the documents or information the tenant must provide depend, in particular, on the terms of the lease and the circumstances of the sale or financing. The tenant should carefully review the contents of any declaration or document they are asked to sign to ensure that the information it contains is accurate.