Q&A
Legal services for small businesses and commercial lease assistance
0:57:43
·
3 min
Council Member Krishnan emphasizes the importance of legal services for small businesses, particularly in dealing with commercial leases and landlord issues. Commissioner Kim and Executive Deputy Commissioner Gross discuss the Commercial Lease Assistance (CLA) program and its impact on helping small businesses navigate lease agreements and negotiations.
- Krishnan highlights the need for legal representation for small businesses in commercial lease negotiations
- The CLA program provides free workshops, consultations, and representation services
- Executive Deputy Commissioner Gross clarifies that the program offers deep engagement and pre-litigation representation for businesses
Shekar Krishnan
0:57:43
I would hope to see it continue and the funding to continue given how vital the services are for small businesses.
0:57:49
On that note too, another program, and we've talked about this before too, has been legal services for small businesses.
0:57:56
I think that's crucial.
0:57:58
I say it as they form our legal services lawyer.
0:58:00
But on the housing context and knowing that for whereas for unstabilized tenants when it comes to leases and things like that, there are a lot of protections built in.
0:58:09
Though they're not enforced, but they are there.
0:58:12
But the commercial setting there's so few protections.
0:58:15
So many leases are one side, and then so many businesses come to us because of landlords that are harassing them and forcing them to leave.
0:58:22
We jacking up their rents, you know, to an incredible rate that they're not able to pay.
0:58:27
And so really small businesses, you know, Their survival depends on having access to legal services that can help them, not just counsel them, but represent them in navigating these situations because it it's fundamentally not a fair fight when landlords, commercial landlords have lawyers and small businesses don't.
0:58:48
And it's one of the biggest reasons that small businesses get priced out of this city and out of their home places and stores is because you know, of these unequal debt bargaining dynamics, which legal services can help to solve.
0:59:01
I know the program exists.
0:59:03
My understanding is that the commercial assistance program.
0:59:05
My understanding is that it's more brief advice space.
0:59:08
But I think just like in the housing context, we're moving to full representation, right to counsel for tenants.
0:59:16
I just wonder what conversations are happening with SBS, the mayor's office, the mayor himself about How can we get to a world where small businesses that needed can can get access to legal services to represent them in these negotiations?
Kevin Kim
0:59:31
So I'll start, and then I'll pass it over to my executive deputy commissioner, Gross here.
0:59:37
The CLA has been, like you said, such a lifeline for so many small business owners.
0:59:41
I think that when people enter into a lease agreement, oftentimes, You're right.
0:59:48
They're only thinking of that immediate moment, and then they don't think about the impact of the rent increases or the continuing maintenance obligations that get passed off to them.
0:59:59
And so understanding what's in that least line by line is incredibly important, but most small business owners, as you know, half of all small business owners are immigrant owned and Englishness is in different language.
1:00:13
But even people with English as their first language when you start getting into the legalese of the contracts that you get lost.
1:00:19
Mhmm.
1:00:20
And so this program has been valuable in helping people take advantage before they enter into the lease.
1:00:26
But too often, we see people who've already entered into the least then come to the program.
1:00:31
And so where we try to add value is in renegotiating the terms during the course of the lease indefinitely before they renew a lease.
1:00:39
And I think that's been extremely helpful.
1:00:42
And so the free workshops and the free consultations we've done in the actual services.
1:00:48
I think I'll turn it over to Executive Deputy Commissioner who's a lot more experience in this area as well.
1:00:55
Thanks commissioner.
Dynishal Gross
1:00:57
I wanna assure you that the engagement of our under on CLA is a deep engagement with businesses.
1:01:03
It's not just a clinical model with brief consultations.
1:01:07
There's actual representation of businesses at various stages of negotiation of the commercial leases, the limit is litigation.
1:01:15
So it's pre litigation representation, but it is a deep a deep engagement of those legal services.
1:01:21
And in addition to CLA, we are providing legal services to small businesses.
1:01:25
Through partnerships with Vowel's, legal consultations through our businesses business solution centers, other services for MWA's.
1:01:34
And we MIT.