A force majeure clause excuses a party's performance obligations under the lease when extraordinary events beyond their control — including natural disasters, pandemics, wars, government orders, and utility failures — make performance impossible or commercially impracticable. The clause typically suspends, rather than terminates, the affected obligations for the duration of the force majeure event.
By Angel Campa, Founder · Updated March 2026
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the inadequacy of most commercial lease force majeure clauses, which historically excluded financial obligations like rent from their scope. Tenants who had negotiated broad force majeure clauses that expressly covered rent obligations during government-ordered closures had a legal basis to suspend rent; tenants without such provisions had no contractual relief and faced eviction despite generating zero revenue. Post-pandemic lease negotiations routinely include pandemic-specific force majeure language, making this clause far more significant than it was historically treated.
Specifically include pandemic, epidemic, and government-ordered closure events in the definition of force majeure, rather than relying on general catchall language. Push to include rent obligations within the scope of suspended performance rather than treating rent as an absolute obligation regardless of circumstances. Negotiate a cure period — typically 90–180 days — after which either party may terminate the lease if the force majeure event has not resolved. Require prompt notice obligations (typically 10–30 days after the force majeure event begins) to preserve the clause's protections.
Narrow force majeure clauses excluding financial obligations (most common pre-2020), broad force majeure clauses including rent suspension during government shutdowns, force majeure with mutual termination rights after extended events, and clauses specifically addressing supply chain disruptions for tenants requiring specialized equipment or materials.
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A force majeure clause typically covers natural disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes, floods), wars and acts of terrorism, pandemics and epidemics, government-ordered shutdowns, labor strikes, and utility failures. Courts interpret these clauses narrowly — the event must make performance impossible, not merely unprofitable. The specific list of events named in the clause determines enforceability; unnamed events are generally excluded even if they appear analogous to listed events.
Tenants should push to include rent obligations within the scope of suspended performance rather than treating rent as an absolute obligation regardless of circumstances. Pre-2020, most force majeure clauses excluded financial obligations from their scope. Post-pandemic, tenants should negotiate explicit rent suspension during government-ordered closures and pandemic events. Include a cure period of 90 to 180 days after which either party may terminate if the force majeure event has not resolved.
COVID-19 litigation revealed that tenants without explicit pandemic and rent-suspension language in their force majeure clauses had no contractual basis for rent relief despite generating zero revenue during government shutdowns. Courts uniformly ruled that generic force majeure clauses did not excuse rent payments. Since 2020, lease negotiations routinely include pandemic-specific language, explicit rent suspension rights during government-ordered closures, mutual termination rights after extended events (90 to 180 days), and prompt notice obligations within 10 to 30 days of the force majeure event.
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