Q A medical clinic tenant in my strip mall renewed its lease only because I orally agreed that it could continue to sublet a portion of its space to a blood lab that serves the clinic's patients. Now, I have a lucrative offer from a franchised blood lab that's a competitor of the clinic's lab. But the franchised lab won't rent the large space it's interested in from me as long as the clinic's lab is operating.

Office tenants that want the option of subletting unused individual offices in, or portions of, the office suite they rent often negotiate professional affiliate sublease clauses. Such a clause gives an office tenant the right to sublet to other professional tenants of the same or a similar type as it, or to professionals that it uses to run its business, without the building owner's consent.

Franchisor tenants in today's market are demanding that their leases give them ample freedom to sublet or assign to any franchisee they choose without your prior consent. Franchisors make this demand because they don't want you putting any limitations on which franchisees they can do business with.