A recapture clause gives the landlord the right to take back — recapture — the leased premises when the tenant requests consent to assign the lease or sublet the space. Rather than approving the proposed transfer, the landlord may instead elect to terminate the current lease and deal directly with the prospective assignee or subtenant at market rent.
By Angel Campa, Founder · Updated March 2026
Recapture clauses fundamentally undermine the value of assignment and subletting rights because they allow the landlord to capture any spread between the tenant's below-market rent and the current market rate. If a tenant pays $30 per square foot on a lease with 3 years remaining and the market rate is $45 per square foot, the tenant's assignment rights are theoretically worth the $15 spread — but a recapture clause allows the landlord to eliminate that value by terminating the existing lease. This clause is flagged as a significant red flag by Lextract's extraction engine.
Push to delete recapture clauses entirely, arguing that assignment and subletting rights are fundamental lease rights that should not be subject to landlord unilateral termination. If the landlord insists on retention, negotiate a profit-sharing alternative: the landlord receives 50% of any rent premium above the tenant's current rent, in lieu of recapture rights. Ensure the recapture right is limited in time — e.g., the landlord must exercise recapture within 30 days of the assignment request — and does not apply to assignments to affiliates, parent companies, or lease successors by merger.
Full recapture rights on any assignment or subletting request, recapture rights limited to subletting of more than 50% of the premises, recapture rights that expire after a minimum operating period, and profit-sharing alternatives in lieu of recapture.
Lextract extracts these fields directly from your lease PDF when this clause is present:
Assignment and Consent Clause
An assignment and consent clause governs the tenant's ability to transfer its entire leasehold interest to a third party (assignee) who then becomes the new tenant under the lease.
Subletting and Sublease Consent
A subletting and sublease consent clause governs the tenant's ability to lease all or part of the premises to a subtenant (sublessee) while the original tenant (sublessor) retains the primary lease obligation.
Right of First Refusal (ROFR)
A right of first refusal (ROFR) gives the tenant the right to match any bona fide third-party offer the landlord receives for adjacent or specified expansion space before the landlord can lease that space to the third party.
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