Pro tip: never trust a handshake deal on a commercial lease

I was at the Greektown coffee shop last Tuesday when my landlord told me rent was jumping $500 a month because we 'never signed anything.' I ended up moving my whole operation to a spot on Gratiot for $200 less with a real contract and it's been smooth ever since. Anyone else get burned by a handshake agreement around here?

2 comments

2 Comments

davis.dakota2d ago

Handshake deals are just a gentleman's agreement for getting screwed.

abbyd362d ago

My uncle lost 3 acres of land because his neighbor "remembered" the boundary different than him after a verbal agreement 15 years ago. Handshake deals work fine when everyone's honest and nothing changes, but people move away, die, or just forget stuff over time. You're basically trusting the other person's memory to be better than yours with zero paper trail.