Your lease provides fewer than 10 days to cure a monetary default, such as late rent payment. A short cure period leaves very little time to resolve payment issues before the landlord can begin default proceedings, especially when payment delays are caused by banking errors or accounting oversights.
By Angel Campa, Founder · Updated March 2026
Flagged when the monetary cure period is less than 10 days.
A 5-day monetary cure period means the tenant has just five business days to receive the default notice, process it internally, resolve any payment issue, and transmit funds. In practice, mailed notices may take 2 to 3 days to arrive, leaving only 2 to 3 business days for actual cure. If rent is $15,000 per month and the landlord declares default, the tenant faces potential lease termination, forfeiture of the security deposit (often $30,000 to $45,000), loss of tenant improvements ($50,000+), and relocation costs averaging $25 to $35 per RSF. The total financial exposure from an uncured default triggered by a short cure period can exceed $200,000.
Negotiate a monetary cure period of at least 10 business days (not calendar days) after written notice of default. Require that the notice be delivered via both certified mail and email to ensure timely receipt. Add a provision requiring at least two missed payments within a 12-month period before the landlord can declare a lease default. For non-monetary defaults, negotiate 30 days to cure with extensions for diligent efforts.
A reasonable monetary cure period is 10 to 15 business days after written notice. This allows adequate time to receive the notice, identify the issue, and process payment. Some tenant-favorable leases provide 20 to 30 days for the first default in any 12-month period.
This depends on the lease language. Tenant-favorable provisions start the cure period upon receipt of notice. Landlord-favorable provisions start upon sending. Negotiate for the period to begin upon actual receipt or, at minimum, three business days after mailing.
If the lease allows it and the cure period expires without payment, technically yes. This is why tenants should negotiate provisions requiring repeated defaults before termination and include language allowing cure up until the landlord actually files legal proceedings.
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