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Abatement: The reduction or elimination of a continuing charge (including Base Rent, expense recoveries, percentage rent and/or any other cash consideration) required to be paid by a tenant under a lease for a specified period of time.
Actual Eviction: The legal process that results in the tenant’s being physically removed from the leased premises.
Ad Valorem Tax: The tax levied according to value, generally used to refer to real estate tax. It may also be called the general tax.
Additional Rent: Any financial obligation of tenant payable to the landlord other than base rent. Additional rent may include, among others, items such as expense recoveries, utilities, percentage rent, CPI adjustments and late fees.
Add-On Factor: The percentage by which the useable square footage of tenant’s premises is increased to arrive at net rentable square footage. The add-on reflects an allocation of the square footage of common areas within the building.
All-Risk Insurance: Property insurance which covers losses occurring from fire, explosion and other perils. When obtained by the landlord, the property being insured is the building itself. When obtained by the tenant, the property being insured is typically leasehold improvements and personal property of the tenant. The coverage amount is often stated as a percentage of replacement cost or replacement value.
Americans with Disabilities Act: This Act addresses rights of individuals with disabilities in employment and public accommodations.
Anchor Tenant: The primary tenant in a shopping center. Larger shopping centers may have more than one anchor tenant. Rent for anchor tenants is often significantly lower than for other tenants in a shopping center because they are the tenants who draw consumers to the center.
Assignment: The transfer of one’s property, interest or rights to another. The party making the transfer is the Assignor and the party to whom the transfer has been made is the Assignee. In a lease assignment, the Assignor transfers some or all of their rights to use leased property to the Assignee for the unexpired remainder of the lease term. In most assignments, the Assignee acquires the same rights and privileges, and assumes the same obligations, which belonged to the Assignor. In addition, the Assignor typically remains liable for any lease obligations which are not fulfilled by the Assignee after the lease has been assigned, unless relieved of such obligations by the landlord. Assignments usually require landlord’s consent.
Assumption: The act of assuming the obligations of a tenant under a lease. An assumption is often associated with an assignment via an assignment and assumption agreement’, whereby the assignor assigns their rights in a lease to the assignee, and the assignee assumes the obligations of the assignor.
Attornment: The formal agreement by a tenant to become the tenant of a new landlord, including the right of the new landlord to collect rent and enforce the provisions of leases. While attornment language is included in most leases, in some cases attornment provisions are tied in with subordination and non-disturbance provisions via a separate document called a subordination, non-disturbance and attornment agreement’. Because attornment provisions provide protection to any new landlord, they are typically associated with mortgages or ground leases in the event of foreclosure or default.