Retail Lease Review: Protecting Your Retail Business
Retail leases are among the most complex commercial lease types. Beyond base rent, retail tenants often face percentage rent obligations, co-tenancy clauses, heavy CAM charges, restrictions on operating hours and signage, and personal guarantee requirements that extend liability far beyond the business. SaferLease reviews retail leases with the depth they demand, protecting your store from costly surprises.
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Why Use SaferLease?
Percentage Rent Analysis
We review the natural breakpoint, percentage rate, and gross sales definition in your percentage rent clause to ensure you understand when additional rent kicks in and how sales are calculated.
Co-Tenancy Protection Review
Retail locations often depend on anchor tenants for foot traffic. We review whether your lease includes co-tenancy protections that reduce rent or allow termination if anchor tenants leave.
Signage and Visibility Rights
Signage restrictions can significantly impact your visibility and brand presence. We review signage rights, restrictions, and approval requirements in your lease.
Operating Hour Requirements
Many retail leases require tenants to operate during specified hours — including evenings and weekends. We identify all operating hour requirements and restrictions.
CAM Charge Structure Analysis
Retail CAM charges can represent 30–50% of total occupancy cost. We analyze the CAM structure, exclusions, caps, and audit rights in your lease.
Exclusivity Clause Review
Exclusive use rights preventing the landlord from leasing to direct competitors are critical for retail success. We review the scope and enforceability of exclusivity provisions.
What Your AI Lease Review Looks Like
Here's a preview of the kind of analysis SaferLease provides for this type of lease.
Risk Score
Flagged Issues
A percentage rent clause that includes online sales, gift cards, or third-party delivery sales in the gross sales calculation can significantly increase your rent obligation.
A retail lease with no co-tenancy clause leaves you with no recourse if anchor tenants leave and foot traffic collapses — you still owe full rent.
Exclusivity clauses with broad exceptions (existing tenants, different brands, online sales) may provide much less protection than they appear to.
Required contributions to a landlord-controlled marketing fund with no transparency on how funds are spent or what marketing activities are conducted.
Mandatory operating hours with default provisions for failing to be open can trigger costly lease violations for holiday closures or staffing issues.
A personal guarantee covering the full retail lease term (5–10 years) creates enormous personal liability for retail business owners.
Disclaimer: SaferLease provides AI-powered informational analysis and is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
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SaferLease provides AI-powered informational analysis and is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.