Some of my favorite leases are subleases. They tend to be more difficult for several reasons but they are well worth the effort for the client. The trick to getting a good sublease is to know where they are and to avoid contacting the landlord directly until the sublease is agree to by the sub-lessor and the sub-lessee.

You may be asking yourself, why would it be harmful to have direct dialog with the landlord? The reason is that many master leases have a sublease clause that prohibits the tenant (sub-lessor) from leasing to any entity that is in direct contact with the landlord. You see the landlord does not derive any benefit from a sublease. Therefor they want to keep the tenant in their leasehold and lease you a new space.

The way to avoid this trap is to have good tenant representation. One of the first actions we take for our clients its to locate subleases that match their requirements. We visit these spaces and determine if they are a fit. If they are then we negotiate the sublease with the sub-lessor before we  contact the landlord.

Another important issue to remember with a sublease is that even if you can come to an agreement with the sub-lessor and actually have a signed sublease the lease is not complete. The landlord normally has the right to approve he sublease and they will produce a document called the landlords consent. Without the landlord`s approval you cannot occupy the building and the sublease is not complete.

Landlord`s can take several weeks to approve the sublease. So timing is important. If you want a sublease don`t wait until the last minute to start looking for your new space. There is very little that can be done to get the landlord to expedite their approve.

There are many other important issues to consider when you are looking for a sublease. If you are a Dallas office tenant looking for a great sublease or you have further questions please fell free to contact us at 972-467-4753.