Enron scandal slows leasing: Firms seeking to ensure books in order.

Enron repercussions may be slowing commercial leasing volume as firms scramble to restate earnings, which may be forestalling them from signing leases.

Leasing volume is already ebbing, so this wariness could be hindering landlords' efforts at leasing space.

Trinity Real Estate's director of commercial leasing Stephen Heyman believes that few large firms are willing to make commitments that they don't have to make at this time.

"No one knows where the fickle finger might point next, and there is no confidence in the immediate viability of firms," said Heyman during a recent panel discussion.

Given the cost of leasing Manhattan office space, the decision to sign a lease can only be made with adequate--and accurate--financial information. It's conceivable that a firm might sign a lease on the basis of faulty bookkeeping, and subsequently find themselves unable to pay the rent. Whether or not these firms are indeed credit-worthy may be a moot point: Their financial confidence has been undermined.

Or is it the other way around, as some in the industry believe that landlords are now forced to scrutinize would-be tenants? For landlords who suffered at the hands of failing dot-coms in 2001, caution may be the order of the day.

"Many landlords got slammed with these dot-coms. Now they have to worry about this, since some tenants may not even know that they can't afford a lease," said David Workman, executive managing director at Brown Harris Stevens' commercial services division.

Yet many landlords are anxious to rent their space, so haste may convince them to overlook these issues in favor of securing rent.

"Landlords really can't be that picky, can they? They may require bigger security deposits now, but I don't think that Enron is screening out viable tenants," said Ruth Colp-Haber, a broker from Wharton Properties.