The tenant (the business occupying the space) who signs a commercial lease agreement is generally expected to be a more savvy, sophisticated, and informed tenant (also known as a lessee) than a tenant in a residential lease, and the law usually does not provide a commercial tenant with the same protections as residential tenant receives.

Because the law does not provide a commercial tenant with many protections, it is up to the commercial tenant to read, understand, and negotiate protections in a proposed lease agreement before signing it, as most every paragraph in a commercial lease agreement can have a significant impact on a business’s operations and financial stability.

Laws vary from state to state, but a commercial landlord’s ability to shut off a tenant’s utilities is usually determined by the terms of the lease agreement and the state’s contract law—to determine, for example, if any breach of the lease agreement by the tenant was a material breach that might justify an extreme measure such as shutting off the utilities.

Contract law in most states recognizes an implied duty of good faith and fair dealing between parties to a contract, and a commercial landlord who shuts off a tenant’s utilities because the tenant is a few days late paying the rent may be in breach of the landlord’s implied duty of good faith and fair dealing.

In Maryland, commercial tenants are indeed considered more sophisticated than residential tenants and are thus afforded fewer legal protections under the law. Commercial tenants are expected to be diligent in reading, understanding, and negotiating the terms of their lease agreements. The protections a commercial tenant enjoys are largely dependent on what is stipulated in the lease contract. Maryland law does not provide statutory protections regarding utility shutoffs for commercial tenants as it does for residential tenants. Instead, such matters are governed by the specific terms of the lease agreement and general contract law principles. If a commercial landlord in Maryland were to shut off utilities, it would be necessary to review the lease to determine if the action is justified based on a material breach by the tenant. Additionally, Maryland recognizes the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in contractual relationships, which means that a landlord's decision to shut off utilities for a minor infraction, such as being a few days late on rent, could potentially be seen as a breach of this duty. However, each situation would need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the lease terms and the circumstances of the alleged breach.