Commercial tenant wants to sell his business

[Vierra Wong]

Hi,

We have a commercial restaurant tenant that is interested in selling his business to one of his employees (the chef).  The prospective tenant has good personal credit however does not have much in assets nor very much restaurant management experience. What criteria should I look for in order to approve an assignment of the lease to a new tenant?  I'm thinking about increasing the deposit or requiring some sort of co-signer to help accommodate the transfer.  Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you!

[Account Closed]

I forgot how to say this in LeaseSpeak, but you should set it up like a sublet where the current tenant is still bound by the contract. If the new tenant fails, the original tenant has to take over payments.