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Warehouseman's lease: Alberta lease for storage unit (garage)

M

Matt Crowley

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REIN Member
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Dec 14, 2013
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Does anyone have a storage unit lease they use for garage rentals? I remember it being suggested by REIN at one time to use a warehouseman's lease. Does anyone have experience with this? Can you please provide a quick run-though of how the agreement should work?

My basic understanding is that a storage unit lease is not governed by the RTA. I'm not really sure how or why this matters.

Obviously you still need to do all of the same tenant checks, ect.. I am just curious if anyone would suggest using a special lease for garage rentals to cover yourself for certain rights / against certain liabilities. Or maybe the storage unit lease is just adding an unnecessary complication?

I'm not making garage rentals a major part of my business so there is no point destroying a year of revenue to draft a lease with a lawyer. Just looking for anyone to offer some expertise on the matter! Thanks!
 
The reason it matters storage rentals are governed by contract law rather than the RTA is there are certain terms outlined in the RTA governing all leases whether or not they are stipulated in the lease. In a storage contract, all points must be addressed in the contract as there is no all-encompassing governing Act.

The handling of abandoned goods and the restrictions on security deposits are two relevant examples. There are very strict rules for residential tenancies, but for storage agreements you may write your own rules in to your contract.
 
SweetZone said:
Does anyone have a storage unit lease they use for garage rentals? I remember it being suggested by REIN at one time to use a warehouseman's lease. Does anyone have experience with this? Can you please provide a quick run-though of how the agreement should work?

My basic understanding is that a storage unit lease is not governed by the RTA. I'm not really sure how or why this matters.

Obviously you still need to do all of the same tenant checks, ect.. I am just curious if anyone would suggest using a special lease for garage rentals to cover yourself for certain rights / against certain liabilities. Or maybe the storage unit lease is just adding an unnecessary complication?

I'm not making garage rentals a major part of my business so there is no point destroying a year of revenue to draft a lease with a lawyer. Just looking for anyone to offer some expertise on the matter! Thanks!
Click to expand...

Here is a copy of a Garage Rental Agreement. Hope this helps.
 

Attachments

I used that contract (or a version of it) for several years before revising it to clarify and to add a few extra terms based on my experiences.
 
Thanks Sherilynn!

Is there anything unique to garage rentals I need to be aware of?

I am not sure how much of this is rumour or fact, but I have heard you should not provide garage door openers and say the door is manual entry. You should consider not providing power to the garage.

What kind of rent would you expect to charge? This garage is south-central Edmonton. Ottewell neighbourhood, 10 minutes from downtown. It looks like the market is $200 - $300 for a double garage. My garage actually has a furnace in it so I could sell it as climate-controlled, potentially. It is a standard sized double (approximately 20' x 22'). Mini storage units within 10 minutes of my garage of similar SF range average at $325...but obviously I don't want to compete with mini-storage aggressive leasing contracts (no DD required, first month free, no lease obligation).

Thanks!
 
There are no limits on security deposits for storage rentals, so we charge more than the rent. We also provide garage door openers with an additional $100 deposit.
We include power to the garage, but not heat (unless the residence tenant is also renting the garage). If there was a furnace installed, I would likely disconnect it. A heated garage is an invitation to work there (whether on cars or on a business).
We charge between $200 - $300 for our double garages.
We always ask a lot of questions regarding what they want the space for. We don't mind people doing light work on their personal vehicles, but we don't want people setting up a side business changing oil for their friends.
We don't want business activities of any kind in the garage as it is usually a bylaw violation.

Two terms I added to my contract allow us to break the lease a) with 30 days' notice if the residence tenant wishes to rent the garage or b) with no notice in order to comply with enforcement of a bylaw.
 
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