How to transfer a commercial lease in Mexico (traspaso)

1. Read your lease before anything else

Look for the clauses on assignment (cesión de derechos), subletting (subarrendamiento) and early termination. Many retail leases forbid both without the owner's written consent, and some set conditions: the new tenant's line of business, guarantees, or a fee to the owner.

Note the remaining term, the current rent and its indexation (often INPC), the deposit and the guarantee you gave. The next tenant will ask for all of it, and they define what you can offer.

2. Talk to the property owner early

In practice the owner decides whether the transfer happens. Tell them you plan to leave and that you'll bring a replacement who meets their criteria. Owners usually prefer a vetted tenant who takes over the lease to an empty unit.

Ask what they need to approve a new tenant: financial statements, guarantees, a category that fits the tenant mix. Ask too whether they'll sign a new lease or an assignment of the current one; it changes the paperwork and the deposit.

3. Put a fair price on the traspaso

The traspaso price is what the incoming tenant pays you for the location and what stays in it. There's no official rate: it depends on the corridor, the remaining term, the rent compared with the market and the value of the fit-out and equipment.

• Fit-out and installations: what it would cost the next tenant to build them, less wear.
• Equipment and furniture that stay, item by item.
• Location value: below-market rent or a hard-to-get unit justify a higher price.
• Remaining term: a short term with no renewal lowers what anyone will pay.

4. Find the next tenant without telling everyone

A public “se traspasa” sign tells customers and staff you're leaving. A discreet process works better: approach brands that are already looking for that size, in that city, with a budget that fits the rent.

On Core Hexagon your location is scored against active brand requirements in that city and only shown to brands that fit, in private deal rooms. You can invite the owner into the conversation when you're ready.

5. Prepare the documents

Have these ready before the first visit; they answer most of the incoming tenant's questions.

• Current lease and any amendments.
• Owner's written consent (or the steps to get it).
• Inventory of fit-out, furniture and equipment that stay, with their condition.
• Photos, floor plan and technical data: power, gas, water, extraction, air conditioning.
• Recent rent and maintenance receipts, and existing permits (land use, operating licence, civil protection).

6. Close the handover

Agree the terms in a letter of intent: traspaso price, what stays, handover date and conditions (usually the owner's approval). Then sign either an assignment of the lease with the owner's consent, or a termination of yours and a new lease for the incoming tenant.

Settle the deposit and guarantees, read the meters on handover day and leave a signed inventory. Pay the traspaso against the signed documents, not before. Have a lawyer review the documents, as tax and legal treatment depends on your case.