Free Washington DC Commercial Lease Agreement Template

A Washington DC commercial lease agreement rents non-residential property — a storefront, an office, a warehouse, a workshop — to a tenant who will run a business there. Chapter 32 of Title 42 is the District’s general Landlord and Tenant chapter, and it addresses commercial and residential tenancies in the same sections while distinguishing between them where it matters.

The Rental Housing Act provisions at § 42-3505.01 and following sit separately and are framed around housing providers and rental units. A business tenancy runs on Chapter 32.

The notice to quit is the provision that names commercial tenancies directly.

The Commercial Notice to Quit

D.C. Code § 42-3202(a) provides that a commercial tenancy from month to month, or from quarter to quarter, may be terminated by a 30-day notice in writing from the housing provider to the tenant to quit, or by such a notice from the tenant to the housing provider of the tenant’s intention to quit.

The expiry rule is the part to plan around. The notice expires on the first day of the first month at least 30 days after the date of the notice — so a notice dated mid-month does not run out thirty days later, but on the first of the following month.

The Contrast With Residential

Subsection (b) runs the other way. A residential tenancy may be terminated by a 30-day notice in writing only from the tenant to the housing provider. The commercial subsection is reciprocal; the residential one is not.

That asymmetry was introduced by D.C. Law 21-210 in 2017, which is when the word commercial entered subsection (a).

More than notice. The chapter runs from § 42-3201 through § 42-3232 and includes provisions on when a notice to quit is not necessary, tenancies at will and at sufferance, service of the notice to quit, and the rule that a notice may not be recalled once given.

It also carries remedies a commercial landlord may care about: refusal to surrender possession and double rent, recovery of real and personal property leased together, ejectment and the disposal of a tenant’s personal property on ejectment, and a landlord’s lien for rent with its own provisions on duration, enforcement, and attachment.

One section is worth locating before you sign. Section 42-3208 is headed “Parties may agree to alternate notice provisions; waiver,” which indicates the statutory notice in a Washington DC commercial lease agreement is not necessarily the last word.

1. Fix the rent, how it is reviewed, the length of the term, and who answers for insurance and repairs.
2. Decide whether you want the statutory notice or an agreed alternative, and check § 42-3208 before drafting it.
3. Diary notice dates against the first of the month rather than a rolling thirty days.
4. Deal expressly with property left behind, since the chapter has its own disposal provisions.
5. Sign, and note each party’s service address on the face of the lease.

Chapter 32 supplies notice and remedies rather than commercial terms, so a Washington DC commercial lease agreement should cover:

• Legal names of landlord and tenant, and the entity behind each signature.
• A description of the premises and any shared entrances or service areas.
• Rent, the due date, and the basis and timing of increases.
• The term, stated as fixed, month to month, or quarter to quarter.
• Renewal options, and what a tenant staying past the term becomes.
• Who bears property taxes, insurance, and utilities, and which repairs fall where.
• Permitted use, transfer restrictions, and the notice address for each side.