Commercial real estate landlords depend on the success of their tenants to continue to pay rent and otherwise satisfy their lease obligations.  If the tenant's business is struggling, it may have difficulty paying the rent and default may not be far off.   Even if the struggling tenant is able to continue to pay rent, they may come to landlord to request some sort of rent deferral or other relief or perhaps lease restructuring, including downsizing or early termination.  

As a preliminary matter, the landlord needs to know its lease and landlord's rights and remedies under the lease as well as at law.  The landlord should get its legal advisor involved early and keep its legal advisor aware of potential lease defaults. As time passes, options and remedies may close.

But ultimately every distressed tenant will have a different situation and story to tell.  Each will have a different approach to handling its lease obligations.  Following is a primer to help the commercial landlord prepare for the default conversation with the tenant by looking at the different potential types of defaulting tenants it may face and advice on how to handle each type.