Can I transfer my lease, sublease my space or change ownership?
Use this page before selling or reorganizing the tenant business, transferring the whole lease, subleasing unused space or reviewing a proposed occupant. It explains the transaction types, the approval process, possible landlord rights and who may remain responsible afterward.
See what this page does ↓Selling the business, subleasing space or approving a new occupant.
Use this page before selling or reorganizing the tenant business, transferring the whole lease, subleasing unused space or reviewing a proposed occupant. It explains the transaction types, the approval process, possible landlord rights and who may remain responsible afterward.
What are you trying to do?
Choose your side and the situation you are dealing with. We will show you what it probably means, what to check first and where to continue.
Important: This helps you understand and organize the issue. The signed lease, amendments, facts and applicable law still need qualified review.
Use this when one of these situations is real.
Three transactions that sound similar—but are not the same.
Example: A buyer of the tenant’s business becomes the tenant for the remaining term.
Example: A tenant rents one unused floor to another company for three years.
Example: The tenant’s shares are sold and the lease treats that ownership change as a transfer.
Know whether consent is required, whether asking can trigger recapture, and whether the original tenant or guarantor remains liable afterward.
Evaluate the incoming party, use, security and economics without confusing consent with a release of the existing tenant.
Turn the clause into a controlled decision.
- 01
Find the operative transfer clause in the lease and every amendment.
- 02
Classify the transaction: assignment, sublease, ownership change, affiliate transfer, licence or another arrangement.
- 03
Extract the consent standard, submission package, response process, fees and conditions.
- 04
Test recapture, profit sharing, net-worth requirements, security changes and continuing liability.
- 05
Gather incoming-party, use, insurance, financial and authority evidence in the Transfer Workspace.
- 06
Preserve the signed consent, closing documents and any express release separately.
This page is a practical checklist—not lease wording.
The actual meaning depends on the complete lease, amendments, facts and governing law. Use the prompts below to extract and brief the issue; do not paste this page into a lease as a substitute for drafting and legal review.
What the business team needs to know
- Which corporate transactions are transfers?
- Are affiliate and control-change transfers pre-approved?
- Can the landlord recapture the space or share transfer consideration?
What to capture from the document
Consent transfers
Record consent standard, submission package, response time and conditions.
Permitted transfers
Capture affiliate, merger, sale-of-business and financing exceptions.
Consequences
Record recapture, profit sharing, fees, release and continuing liability.
Terms that can change the practical outcome
- Change of control defined more broadly than the company’s likely transactions
- Recapture triggered by a request for consent
- Original tenant liability continuing after an approved transfer without release path
What qualified counsel needs to test
Test the clause against the tenant’s ownership, financing and exit plans and the landlord’s credit and use controls, including every deemed transfer and consequence.
Owner rent-roll handoff: Carry only sourced premises area, tenant status, current rent, recoveries, term and rollover facts into Rent Roll Intelligence. An entered scenario does not establish market rent, entitlement, valuation, accounting treatment or tenant credit.
Amendment-control handoff: Carry the executed source, authority, effective date, changed categories, revised term and approval evidence into Lease Amendment & Change Control. The workspace sequences entered facts; it does not interpret wording, establish enforceability or replace legal, accounting or tax review.
Jurisdiction and statutory context
These sources support limited context only. They do not decide how the actual lease operates.
Québec — Civil Code, lease provisions ↗Official Civil Code of Québec. General lease provisions begin at article 1851; civil-law analysis is distinct from common-law provinces.