Options

When Options is selected for the first time from the Navigation Tree, Pane 1 contains a grid with one record for each Option that appears in the Building Clause List (the Clause List may be viewed in the Building section). The Applicability status for each Option (see the column labeled “Applicability”) is set to a default status of “Pending.” This means that the Option has not yet been addressed by the Abstractor.

Abstracting Options

Step 1

1. Highlight the Option in Pane 1.
2. Click “Edit/View” in the Pane 1 Toolbar; the “Edit Lease Option” pop-up window appears.
3. Option ID – Use the default ID or change the ID to something more descriptive (the Option ID is typically only edited when it is necessary to copy a particular Option; i.e., Renewal - 1, Renewal - 2, etc.).
4. Applicability – As mentioned above, the default selection is “Pending.” If there is data in the Lease to be abstracted for the Option, change this status to “Applicable." If the Option was in the Lease but has been stricken, change the status to “Stricken." If the Lease does not address the Option at all, change the status to “Silent” (see the note below in regards to changing all unaddressed clauses to a status of “Silent” at one time). “Expired” should be used when an Option has been abstracted but is no longer applicable because the required notification period has expired. If the Option was deliberately not abstracted for some reason, change the status to “Not Abstracted” (this option should rarely be used as it circumvents the system validation which ensures that all clauses in the Clause List are abstracted).
5. Document/Section - Add a reference to the Lease document/section.
6. Notification Period Type – If the Lease does not provide for a specific notification date (or a date that cannot be calculated), use the default selection of “None” (for example, a Right of First Offer often provides that Tenant must notify Landlord of exercise within a specified number of days after Landlord’s offer notice. In this case, the notification date cannot be determined). If the Lease does provide a specific notification date (or a date that can be calculated), use one of the remaining six selections from the drop down box (After, Before, Between, On, On or After, On or Before), as applicable (for example, a renewal Option may provide that notice must be given no later than 6 months prior to expiration. In this case, "On or Before" would be the proper selection).
7. Notification Start Date – Enter the notification date for a Period Type of “After” or “On or After,” or the earliest notification date for a Period Type of “Between.”
8. Notification End Date – Enter the notification date for a Period Type of “Before,” “On or Before” or “On,” or the latest notification date for a Period Type of “Between.”
9. Effective Period Type – See description of Notification Period Type above. Tip: For renewal Options, the recommended best practice is to select “Between” and enter the start and end date of the renewal term.
10. Effective Start Date - Enter the notification date for a Period Type of “After” or “On or After,” or the earliest notification date for a Period Type of “Between.”
11. Effective End Date - Enter the notification date for a Period Type of “Before,” “On or Before” or “On,” or the latest notification date for a Period Type of “Between.”
12. Date Calculator – Use this function when a specific date is not provided in the Lease but the Lease provides enough information to calculate the date (for instance, “Tenant must notify Landlord at least 180 days prior to Lease expiration." In this case, if the Lease expiration date is known, the Date Calculator can be used to determine the exact date). Instructions for using the Date Calculator are provided below.
13. Encumbered – For an Option type of Renewal, Expansion, Right of First Offer or Right of First Refusal, click the “Encumbered” check box, which allows for the specification of the encumbered Floors. After checking “Encumbered,” use the arrows to move the Floor(s) that are encumbered from the “Building Floors” box to the “Selected Encumbered Floors” box. If the Option encumbers more than one Floor, move all Floors that are encumbered. This is crucial for the generation of an accurate Encumbered Space by Floor report.
14. Click "View/Edit Descriptions" and scroll down to enter:
    • Encumbered Space: (e.g., for a renewal Option, the description should include the applicable Suite number(s) and the sf; for a Right of First Offer, the description might be something like “any available space that is contiguous to the Premises,” or "any available space on Floor 10, as shown on Exhibit A"); and
    • Superior Rights: (i.e., rights of tenant are subject to rights granted to existing tenants as of the date this Lease was executed, etc.). If no superior rights are provided for in the Lease, type "Silent."
15. Click “Save.”

Info: All Notification/Effective Dates appear on the Critical Dates report.

Step 2

When an Option status is changed to "Applicable" in the Edit Lease Option window and the record is saved, a list of related Provisions appears in Pane 2.

1. Highlight the Provision in Pane 2.
2. Click “Edit” in the Pane 3 Toolbar.
3. Enter the Lease language in Pane 3. Tip: Extensive Lease language may be cut and paste into rAbstract from a Word file or .pdf file.
4. Click “Check” in the Pane 3 to check the spelling.
5. Click “Save” in the Pane 3 Toolbar.
6. Repeat steps 1 – 5 until all Option Provisions are addressed.

If the Lease does not address a specific provision, a recommended best practice is to type “Silent” in the provision text box.

Continue this process until all Options are addressed.

Some Leases may not contain information for each Option in the Clause List, so some Options may remain that have an Applicability Status of “Pending.” When this is true, click “Silent” in the Pane 1 Toolbar. The following message appears: “Are you sure you want to make all *Pending* Options *Silent*?”

Select “OK” to change all remaining “Pending” statuses to a status of “Silent.”

On the Leases “General” screen, the Abstracting Status cannot be changed to “Complete” if any Clauses or Options have a status of “Pending.”

Also:

1. There must be at least one Option record for each Option on the Building Clause List. If an attempt is made to delete the only Option record for a specific Option type by clicking the “Delete” button in the upper pane, the record will not be deleted; rather, all of the provisions related to the Option will be deleted and the Applicability Status will be re-set to “Pending."
2. Multiple instances of an Option may be added by clicking the “Add” button in the Pane 1 Toolbar, selecting the appropriate type from the drop down box in the “Type” field, and then following all of the procedures listed above for abstracting an Option (for instance, there may be multiple renewal Options associated with a single Lease – each can have its own Option record by adding as many Option types “Renewal” as necessary. Each Option of the same type must have a unique Option ID (e.g., Renewal - 1, Renewal - 2, etc.).
3. Option records may be copied. This is useful when multiple Options are similar except for dates. To copy an Option, highlight the Option to be copied in Pane 1 and click “Copy.” An identical Option will be created (NOTE: be mindful that any dates will need to be changed).