Legal Definitions - headlessor

A headlessor is the original landlord in a property lease agreement, specifically when their tenant has subsequently subleased all or part of that property to a third party. Essentially, the headlessor is the property owner who granted the initial lease, even though the property might now be occupied by a subtenant under a separate agreement with the original tenant.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Commercial Office Space: Imagine "Corporate Towers Inc." owns a large office building. They lease an entire floor to "Tech Solutions LLC" for a five-year term. Two years into their lease, Tech Solutions LLC realizes they have excess space and decide to sublease a portion of their floor to a startup, "Innovate Labs." In this scenario, "Corporate Towers Inc." is the headlessor because they are the original landlord who leased the property to Tech Solutions LLC, even though Innovate Labs is now occupying part of that space through a sublease.

• Residential Apartment: Ms. Anya Sharma owns an apartment building. She leases an apartment to Mr. David Kim for a one-year period. Six months later, Mr. Kim receives a temporary job transfer to another city and, with Ms. Sharma's permission, subleases his apartment to Ms. Emily Wong for the remaining six months of his lease. Ms. Sharma remains the headlessor because she is the original property owner and landlord who entered into the primary lease agreement with Mr. Kim, even though Ms. Wong is currently living in the apartment as a subtenant.

• Retail Storefront: "Main Street Properties LLC" owns a shopping center and leases a large storefront unit to "Fashion Forward Boutique" for a ten-year term. After four years, Fashion Forward Boutique decides to downsize its physical presence and subleases a section of its storefront to "Artisan Crafts Gallery" for the remaining six years of its lease. "Main Street Properties LLC" is the headlessor because they are the initial landlord of the storefront unit, even though Artisan Crafts Gallery is now operating in a portion of the space under a sublease from Fashion Forward Boutique.