Landlord guide · Renewal options
When your commercial tenant has to say it is renewing, and what to date around it.
A renewal option gives the tenant a window, counted back from the end of the term, in which to say it is staying. Write down both ends: the first day notice can be given and the last. If the lease makes time of the essence, a notice outside the window is often void, so the last day is the one to watch, and the sentence that says what happens if it passes is the one to read. Then date what is yours: the end of the term, any period you have to respond after the tenant exercises, and the conditions the option is subject to. Prism returns the window’s dates and the clause behind them. A period that starts when the tenant gives notice can only be dated once it does.
Worked example: two five-year options
An office lease whose term ends on Jun 30, 2030. The tenant holds two successive five-year options, and the landlord has thirty days to state the renewal rent once one is exercised.
The option“Tenant may extend the Term for two (2) successive periods of five (5) years each by written notice given not earlier than twelve (12) months and not later than nine (9) months before the Expiration Date then in effect. Time is of the essence. The option is void if Tenant is in default when it gives notice.”
The landlord’s side“Within thirty (30) days after receiving a notice of extension, Landlord shall notify Tenant of the Renewal Rent.”
| Date | What it is | How it is worked out |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 30, 2029 | First day the tenant can give notice for the first option | 12 months before the Jun 30, 2030 expiration. A Saturday |
| Sep 30, 2029 | Last day for that notice | 9 months before the expiration. A Sunday |
| Jun 30, 2030 | The term ends if the option is not exercised | Stated in the lease |
| Oct 30, 2029 | Your last day to give the Renewal Rent notice, if the tenant gives notice on Sep 30, 2029 | 30 days after the notice arrives. It cannot be dated until the notice is given |
| Jun 30, 2035 | New expiration if the first option is exercised | 5 years after Jun 30, 2030 |
| Jun 30, 2034 to Sep 30, 2034 | The window for the second option, if the first was exercised | 12 and 9 months before Jun 30, 2035 |
If no notice comes, the last day of the window, Sep 30, 2029, still leaves nine months before the term ends. Sep 30, 2029 is a Sunday. Some leases move a deadline that lands on a weekend to the next business day; Prism returns the date the arithmetic gives and does not move it, so read what your lease says.
The lease and its clauses were written for this page, not taken from a customer’s lease. The dates are worked out by hand and checked against the same date arithmetic Prism uses.
What a landlord should date around an option
Both ends of the notice window
The first day the tenant can give notice and the last. Many clauses make a notice outside the window void and say time is of the essence; Prism returns both ends and quotes the sentence.
The expiration date it counts from
Stated in the lease, worked out from the commencement date and the term, or taken from a memorandum of dates, rather than from an estimate the lease supersedes.
Each option, in order
Two options are two windows, and the second counts from an expiration date that exists only if the first is exercised.
Conditions on the option
No default, minimum occupancy, no assignment: the conditions the lease attaches to exercising the option, quoted.
How renewal rent is set
A fixed rent, a stated schedule or fair market value, as the option clause says. Quoted in the abstract’s renewal option term.
Your own response periods
Some options give the landlord a period to respond after the tenant exercises. It starts when the notice arrives, so it can only be dated then.
The end of the term
When the term ends if no option is exercised, and what the lease says applies if the tenant stays on: the holdover term.
What it will not do
Prism returns what the lease states and quotes where. It does not decide whether a notice the tenant gave was valid, does not work out a fair market rent, and does not date a period that starts when the tenant gives notice, such as your time to state the renewal rent, until you have the day it was given: put that date in your own calendar. It does not move a date for a weekend or a holiday. It is not legal advice, and reminders are best-effort.
Use it from an AI agent
Prism is a remote MCP server. In Claude Code:
claude mcp add --transport http prism https://prism.parad1gm.com/api/prism-mcpThen ask: “Read this lease and give me the renewal option notice window, both ends, the expiration date it is counted from, and the conditions on the option, with the clause each one comes from.” The agent sends the document with prism_review_contract and reads the result with prism_get_contract. Setup for Claude on the web, Cursor, VS Code and A2A agents is on the agents page.
$0.50 a contract for an agent, and the first 3 are free. On the website it is $1 per contract, or $9 a month for up to 50.
Questions
Why does a landlord need the tenant’s deadline?
It is the last day the tenant can act, so it is the day you learn whether the space is staying. In the example the window closes nine months before the term ends, which is the lead time you have if no notice comes. For a paid lease, Prism emails you 90, 30 and 7 days before that last day.
What if the tenant gives notice early or late?
The clause decides, and many make a notice outside the window void. Prism returns both ends of the window and quotes the sentence. It does not decide whether a particular notice was valid.
What if the last day falls on a weekend?
Some leases move a deadline that lands on a weekend to the next business day and some do not. Prism returns the date the arithmetic gives and does not move it for a weekend or a holiday, so read what your lease says. In the example the last day, Sep 30, 2029, is a Sunday.
How are months counted when a month is shorter?
On the calendar, and where the month is shorter Prism uses its last day. Nine months before Mar 31, 2031 is Jun 30, 2030, because June has no 31st. A lease can define the count differently, so check the sentence.
What happens to the dates if the tenant exercises?
The expiration date moves. Add the amendment that records the extension from the lease, or send it with amendsContractId from an agent. It is read together with the lease, and the renewal window moves with the new expiration date.
Does Prism tell me what the renewal rent is?
For a paid lease, the abstract quotes how the option clause sets it: a fixed rent, a stated schedule or fair market value. It does not work out a fair market rent.
Is this legal advice?
No. It tells you what the lease says and where. Whether a notice was valid, or what to do about an option, is a question for the clause and a lawyer.
More for landlords
Every guide here starts from the lease. Prism for landlords shows the whole picture: leases, insurance certificates and loan documents read once and put on one calendar that emails you before each date.
- How to track lease expirations across your rental units
- How to track your tenants’ insurance certificates
- When the rent goes up: escalation and CPI adjustment dates
- What the lease says about the security deposit, and the dates
- A spreadsheet or Prism for lease expiries
This guide is about what a lease says and which dates follow from it. It is not legal advice, and it does not cover state or local law. How often Prism finds these dates is on the accuracy page.