Comercial Lease for Residential loft

[moishap]

My son found this great loft he is planning to move in. I took a peak at the lease and the first thing I noticed was the title "Commercial Lease Agreement". I actually Googl'ed for a phrase from the lease and found the form available for download on one of the free legal advise site. From my son's words, the loft used to be a retail store and it will be easy to alter for a nice living loft with room mates. My son doesn't wan to "bother" with "legalites" and eager to sign the lease, reasoning that the LL insist on the commercial lease and my son will not be able to find anything like this place. I do not have much experience in making deals, agreements and contracts and I have no arguments besides "does not sound right" in regards to the signing the lease. If someone could comment on this situation, that'd be great. What kind of troubles if any he can get himself ? Or there is no legal issues here ? What about subletting it to room mates ?

[lofter1]

Your son could possibly find himself in a sea of troubles -- including being barred from living in a space with no residential Certificate of Occupancy (check the building's address at the Department of Buildings [ www.nyc.gov ] to see if the C/O allows residnetial use). If so barred for residential use in the loft space then he still could be lliable for full rent due on the entire lease term. If he "sublets" (more likely that he would take in roommates to share the rent) and those folks stay more than 30 days he could find himself in a situation where those folks gain occupancy rights and he assumes some legal repsonsibility for their use & occupancy of the loft space.

If someone else signs the lease as a co-signer or guarantor then all of these troubles cold fall upon that non-occupant.

On the other hand your son could end up with a great space at not much rent and have a great time while living there with no legal troubles whatsoever.

But understnading the risk is important prior to entering into the lease agreement.

Also: Commercial leases often have "pass-a-long" charges for various items such as water bills, electric surcharges, real estate taxes, etc -- all of which could be tacked on to bills above the stated rent amount, and which may be due quarterly or at other non-monthly pay periods. Thee charges can bring the total amount due to levels much higher than the listed "rent".

READ the LEASE Carefully.

[moishap]

Thanks, lofter1 ! This helps.
Building Classification: S4-RESIDENCE-MULTI-U.
I understand commercial on the first floor and residential on 2 others. But apparently there is an outstanding "Work Without A Permit" Violation since 2002. Good to know - supposedly a space partitioning into rooms at LL expense was discussed between my son and broker or LL. Now I understand why the LL and broker have the same names ( something like "Joe The Plumber" ) before the lease signed.
The lease used was a residential lease template downloaded from http://www.ilrg.com/forms/ - generic form with no modifications.