Critical dates and clauses are the heartbeat of any lease agreement. These crucial data points are tied to dates and require actions by the tenant or landlord. Failure to complete a critical date action by the agreed upon date can result in legal ramifications, penalty fees, and/or even eviction.
Before you start losing sleep over your critical dates, we organized this comprehensive list of critical dates with their definitions.
Additional Rent Payment Dates
The dates on which the tenant must pay additional rent, such as percentage rent on their pro rata share of the center’s CAM costs or the building’s operating expenses.
Audit Date Request
The dates on which the tenant must pay additional rent, such as percentage rent on their pro rata share of the center’s CAM costs or the building’s operating expenses.
Auto-Renewal Date
The date the brokers are paid commissions.
Commission Payments Date
The date the brokers are paid commissions.
CPI Adjustment Date
The basic rent shall be increased each year by a percentage equal to the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index statistics published by the United States Bureau of Labor. The proposed adjustment shall be presented to the tenant by the landlord 30 days prior to the effective date of the assessment.
Delivery Date
The date by which the landlord must deliver the space to the tenant.
Early Occupancy
The date the tenant is granted access to the leased premises prior to the lease start date.
Estoppel Letter Due Date
The date by which the tenant must sign and deliver to the landlord an estoppel certificate.
Fixed Rent Escalation Date
This date defines when and how much the rent will go up by a preset amount.
Landlord Work Date
The date in which any renovation, build-out, demolition or other work that the landlord is required to conduct for the benefit of a certain tenant pursuant.
Lease Commencement Date
The date upon which the landlord and the tenant’s rights and obligations under the lease begin.
Lease Execution Date
The date any lease is executed between the tenant and the landlord.
Lease Expiration Date
The last day of the lease term, subject to any other date on which the lease is terminated.
Lease Extension Date
The date legally agreed upon to extend the term of an existing lease or rental agreement.
Lease Signing Date
The date the tenant signs the lease.
Lease Start Date
The date that the property is passed from the landlord to the tenant.
Letter of Credit Expiration Date
The date on which the tenant’s letter of credit expires and thus must be renewed, provided that it is not an evergreen letter of credit, which renews automatically.
Radius Restriction
A tenant is prohibited from opening a like business operation within a particular radius of the leased premises for a specified period of time.
Rent Commencement Date
The date upon which the tenant’s responsibility to pay the landlord for the use of the space begins.
Rent Deposit Return Date
The date the landlord returns the deposit to the tenant.
Rent Increases Effective Date
The date the landlord may increase the tenant’s base rent once every 12 months by the amount of the annual allowable increase.
Right to Contraction Date
This date provides the tenant with the flexibility and right to reduce their property footprint.
Right to Expand Date
The deadline for the tenant to expand their space by leasing additional space in the building or center.
Right of First Refusal
The deadline to require the landlord to lease or sell the tenant space that they plan to lease or sell to a third party for the same rent or price and terms that they are willing to accept from the third party.
Right to Kick-Out
The deadline for the landlord’s right to kick the tenant out or the tenant’s right to terminate the lease should the tenant’s gross sales fall below a certain level.
Right to Purchase
The date in which the tenant can exercise their right to purchase the property.
Right to Relocation
The deadline for the landlord to relocate the tenant to another space in the building or center.
Right to Renew
The date the tenant must give notice to the landlord of their intent to renew the lease. If the tenant misses this date, they lose their right to renew the lease.
Right to Terminate
The deadline for the tenant to terminate their commercial real estate lease.
Security Deposit Burn Down Clause
The date on which the landlord has agreed to refund part of the security deposit to the tenant.
Tenant Improvement Allowance
The landlord supplies the tenant with cash to help pay for the improvements.
Tenant Allowance Reimbursement
The date a landlord pays the tenant to reimburse the tenant for the construction of leasehold improvements, such as modifications to commercial real estate.
Critical Date Management
Now that you are a critical dates glossary skills are tuned, consider upgrading your critical date management system to an automated and customizable digital solution. Receive notifications when critical dates need your attention and take action on those notifications by exercising your right or ignoring it.
