Considering Lease Assignment Provisions in the Light of an Enterprise's Broader Business Plan

What Could Have Been Done

• Assignments not permitted without landlord's consent, with no conditions attached;
• Assignments permitted only with landlord's consent, not to be unreasonably withheld, with reasonability only generally defined or, more commonly, not defined at all;
• Consent not to be unreasonably withheld, with criteria established as to what constitutes a reasonable refusal to consent, or, conversely, criteria that would require consent if standards or parameters are met; and/or
• Assignment not permitted without consent, with certain exceptions which do not require consent or for which consent is presumed granted (sometimes referred to as Permitted Transfers):
  • To an entity resulting from the merger, consolidation or reorganization of tenant or to the entity benefiting from the sale of substantially all of the tenant's assets;
  • To an entity of net worth (or some other measured financial standard) equal to or greater than the tenant, or meeting some specific numerical standard (e.g., $1.5 million net worth and $750,000 liquidity); and/or
  • To an entity that operates a specific number of units similar to tenant's business, having five years' operating experience and a net worth equal to or greater than tenant's.

Encumbrances and Leasehold Mortgages

Conclusion