Request to consent to assign

We signed a lease extension a year ago and now they have sent us a letter requesting consent to assign the lease to another company. Are we obligated to sign and do we have leverage to negotiate for more money? The lease involves 4 families.

It depends on the language in your lease. Most of the time it says the consent will not be withheld unreasonably. Now, if there is no language like that, then the company could go to court to determine that the consent to assign is what is called an unreasonable restraint on alienation and have it stricken. In short, I wouldn’t give the consent if you have a good reason, but if you’re trying to secure additional money, then it may not work.

My concern is more the lingo requesting that we consent to the transfer of Property, “in accordance with the purchase and Sale Agreement to Purchaser.” This seems to leave them room to modify the original contract. I do NOT want to consent to any modification of the original contract, rather consent to them selling their interest allowing the new company to operate freely under the original contract. Any thoughts?

Sorry for the late reply. Unfortunately, one, preferably a lawyer, would need to look at the Purchase and Sale Agreement language.

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