Net lease glossary
Assignment and Subletting
Lease provisions governing whether the tenant can transfer the lease or sublease the space to another party, and whether the original tenant stays liable.
Assignment transfers the tenant's entire lease interest to a new party, while subletting creates a new sublease under the original tenant. Leases set whether landlord consent is required, what standard applies, and whether the original tenant or guarantor is released. For net lease investors, the key question is often whether a strong guarantor stays liable after an assignment, since credit can change dramatically if a corporate tenant assigns to a weaker operator.