Legal Definitions - headlease

Definition: A headlease is the primary lease agreement between a landlord and a tenant, under which the tenant is allowed to sublease the property to another tenant.

Example: John is the landlord of a commercial property and leases it to Sarah for a period of five years. Sarah, in turn, subleases the property to a retail store owner for three years. In this scenario, the lease agreement between John and Sarah is the headlease, while the sublease agreement between Sarah and the retail store owner is the sublease.

Explanation: The example illustrates how a headlease works in real estate. The headlease is the primary lease agreement between the landlord and the tenant, which allows the tenant to sublease the property to another tenant. In this way, the tenant becomes a middleman between the landlord and the subtenant, and is responsible for managing the sublease agreement.