Valid and Enforceable Agreements – Proper Signing and Witnessing

Commercial Property Managers are not attorneys; however, our golden rule is to act in a fiduciary manner at all times. This obligates us to protect Property Owners and Associations, especially when agreements have been executed.

Many attorneys and realtors use old, existing “master templates” or boilerplate templates, which do not pay attention to the signature page. The signature page is as important as the content – and more important when it is contested. Legible, printed names are needed by the signature of every signing authority.

An attorney, Victor Diaz, who is knowledgeable in this area, writes that, in Florida, “a series of recent cases had made clear the need for attesting witnesses on leases.” Being part of a firm that reviews leases regularly, he notes that “a significant number of leases we review are legally unenforceable for lack of proper witnesses.”

In one case, for example, Skylake Insurance Agency, Inc. v. NMB Plaza, LLC, a tenant brought action against his landlord to enforce a lease. But he lost the case because of Florida’s land conveyance statute, which provides that “no estate of one year or more shall be made other than ‘in writing, signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.’”

In another case, S & I Investments v. Payless Flea Market, there was an issue of a renewed lease (rather than a new one) and the District Court (on appeal) held that, whether the lease is a new or renewal lease, two witnesses were required to make the lease valid and enforceable.

While we are not attorneys, and we suggest you always get the appropriate legal counsel when necessary, we are aware of the need for leases to have proper signature pages. Be sure that you always have proper witnesses, as well as legable printed names with signatures.