Green Leases

Posted by on Feb 12, 2013 in Blog | 14 comments USE GREEN LEASES TO PUT MORE MONEY IN YOUR POCKET A Green Lease Guide For Commercial Owners And Tenants By now you certainly have heard of the benefits of a green lease: the energy savings; brand enhancement; and of course the increased rents. But, with all these benefits, should they be used in every case or are there pitfalls and how do you avoid them? To begin with, let’s define the term...
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Are You Liable For Criminal Environmental Violations By Your Employee

Posted by on Jan 7, 2013 in Blog | 8 comments Criminal Environmental Violations It is the worst-case scenario.  You own a business.  Your business has environmental requirements – lots of them.  You, personally, cannot assure compliance with all the requirements – that’s why you have hired staff to do it.  One of their tasks is to maintain compliance with the environmental laws and regulations. But what happens when they screw up?  Who is...
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Lead Paint Penalties for Contractors and Owners

Posted by on Dec 11, 2012 in Blog | 8 comments Failure to take some simple actions with lead paint can lead to stiff penalties from EPA. If you are a building owner/operator/manager or if you are a contractor/painter/renovator, you need to pay attention to lead paint issues. No contractor/painter/renovator is too big or too small to warrant EPA scrutiny for lead paint.  EPA penalties include small one or 2 person companies and as small as 1...
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Stormwater Runoff Means Big Penalties

Posted by on Nov 8, 2012 in Blog | 9 comments Did you know that stormwater running off your construction site (active or inactive) can place you in the cross-hairs of EPA and State regulators? More importantly, just because you think you have the pieces in place to comply with the stormwater requirements, doesn’t mean you do.  The permitting requirements are very specific and failure to comply results in significant penalties.  Just ask...
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Jail Time For Asbestos?

Posted by on Oct 8, 2012 in Blog | 7 comments

Remember Asbestos? The naturally occurring insulating material that was determined to be a hazardous air pollutant way back in the 20th century? Well the initial excitement over inspections, removal and encapsulation may have worn off, but asbestos as a continuing issue for contractors, remodelers, developers and property owners is alive and well. And if you have become complacent or been ignoring potential issues regarding asbestos, you’d be wise to refocus your efforts. Why? Well EPA appears to have refocused its efforts on enforcement and it resulted in some pretty serious penalties, including criminal violations.


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Hail Damage, a Commercial Property Pitfall?

Posted by on Sep 21, 2012 in Blog | 14 comments Hail Damage is Hard to Find. There are a lot of elements included in due diligence for commercial properties, but the hail storm that hit the valley 2 years ago has added perhaps one of the most costly elements in recent memory.   And before you dismiss this as “old news” let me ask you this question, are you 100% sure you building was not damaged or if it was damaged that it was properly...
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