What's actually in landlord-drafted commercial leases

Most commercial leases are drafted by the landlord's attorney and presented to tenants as standard. Many of the most consequential clauses — uncapped CAM, full-term personal guarantees, sole-discretion subletting — are routine in landlord-prepared leases. This page documents how frequently these terms appear.

Published May 2026 · LeaseLens Research · Based on standard commercial lease drafting patterns in US retail, office, and industrial leases · Methodology →

Risk clause frequency in landlord-prepared leases

How often these clauses appear in standard commercial leases as drafted by the landlord — before any tenant negotiation.

Commercial lease cost benchmarks

Reference figures for commercial tenants evaluating a lease against market norms.

Why these clauses get signed without negotiation

Commercial leases are long documents — typically 30–80 pages — and are reviewed under time pressure. Tenants often focus on rent and move-in date, not on the clauses that only become relevant three or four years into the term.

CAM charges look small in Year 1. A personal guarantee feels abstract when the business is healthy. Holdover provisions are invisible until you need an extra month to move out. These clauses are included in almost every landlord-drafted lease because they are almost never challenged — and when they are challenged, most landlords will negotiate.

The gap isn't information — commercial real estate attorneys know exactly what to look for. The gap is access. A focused attorney review of a commercial lease runs $600–$2,000. Most small business tenants sign without one.