Your landlord wants a personal guarantee. What are you agreeing to?

To pay the rent personally if the business can't. For the whole term, usually.

This is where liability protection most commonly gets given away, and it's given away by signature rather than by any failure of the structure.

What a full guarantee covers

Typically everything the tenant owes: rent for the entire term, plus costs, plus damages, plus the landlord's legal fees.

On a five-year lease at $4,000 a month, that's $240,000 of personal exposure, and it doesn't end if you close the business or sell it.

What's usually negotiable

Landlords ask for full guarantees and frequently accept less.

• A capped guarantee. Limited to a set amount, or a number of months' rent.

• A "good guy" guarantee. You're personally liable only until you vacate properly with notice and current rent. Common in commercial leasing and worth asking about by name.

• A burn-off. The guarantee reduces or ends after a period of on-time payment.

• A security deposit or letter of credit instead. More cash up front, no personal exposure.

What to check regardless

Whether it survives assignment — if you sell the business, are you still on the hook? Whether it covers renewals and extensions automatically. Whether the landlord must pursue the business first or can come straight to you. Whether a spouse is being asked to sign, and what that exposes.

The mistake

Signing the lease and treating the guarantee as boilerplate. It's often the single largest personal obligation a small business owner takes on, and it gets less attention than the rent number.

What to do

Before signing, calculate the total exposure. Then ask for a cap, a burn-off, or good-guy terms. The worst outcome is being told no.

This is general information, not legal advice for your situation. If you want an answer for your business, book a consultation.