Commercial lease analyzer
Don't sign blind.
Signing a commercial lease for a retail, restaurant, or office space? The clauses that decide your downside risk are buried in the back of the lease. Dang flags personal guaranty scope, NNN structure, CAM cap, demolition rights, and holdover penalties.
No account requiredFile deleted after analysisNot legal advice
What Dang checks for
Commercial leases are less regulated than residential leases. Heuristic checks anchored in commercial real-estate practice:
- Personal guaranty scope. Flagged when guaranty extends past lease term, covers entire balance, or has no good-guy carve-out.
- Triple net (NNN) structure. Tenant pays taxes, insurance, and maintenance on top of base rent. Worth modeling total occupancy cost.
- CAM uncapped. Common area maintenance with no annual cap. Caps in the 4-7% annual range are typical.
- Demolition clause. Landlord can terminate for redevelopment, often with limited recourse for tenant.
- No co-tenancy clause. No protection if anchor tenants leave the property.
- No exclusive-use clause. Landlord can lease nearby space to a direct competitor.
- Assignment and sublet restrictions. Worth aligning with how you might exit or sell the business.
- Radius restriction. Cannot open competing locations within a stated radius.
- Holdover penalty. Holdover rent above 150% of base rent is aggressive.
- Auto-renewal trap. Long non-renewal notice windows quietly extend the lease.
Sample preview
Personal guaranty extending through entire 5-year term. No good-guy carve-out for early surrender of premises.
CAM charges with no annual cap. Total occupancy cost may rise unpredictably.
Holdover rent at 200% of base. Worth an exit-window negotiation if move-out timing is uncertain.
What to ask before signing
- How much of the lease am I personally guaranteeing, and for how long?
- Is the lease NNN, modified gross, or full service? What are the pass-throughs?
- Is there a CAM cap? At what annual rate?
- Does the landlord have demolition or relocation rights?
- Is there a co-tenancy clause if the anchor leaves?
- What is the holdover penalty if I overstay?
Frequently asked questions
What is NNN?
Triple-net: tenant pays base rent plus property taxes, insurance, and common-area maintenance. Total occupancy cost is meaningfully higher than base rent alone.
Should I sign a personal guaranty?
Often unavoidable for small-business tenants. The negotiation is around scope: term, dollar cap, good-guy clause for surrender, and whether it survives assignment.
What is CAM?
Common Area Maintenance: tenant's share of operating expenses for shared building areas. Caps and audit rights are negotiable.
What does the analyzer cost?
Preview is free. Full report is $6.99, one-time, no subscription.
Sources & further reading
- National Association of Realtors · commercial real-estate guidance
- U.S. Small Business Administration · commercial real-estate basics
No account required · File deleted after analysis · Not legal advice. Dang reports contract findings in plain English. For consequential decisions, consult a licensed attorney in your state.