Can a landlord's consent be delayed so long that it blows up my whole closing timeline?

Yes, and this is one of the most common practical risks in a business purchase and sale involving leased premises — landlord consent is frequently the step least within either party's direct control, since it depends on a third party who isn't otherwise part of the deal and has no particular urgency to move at your pace. A landlord who is slow, distracted, or simply uncooperative can push your closing date back regardless of how ready you, your buyer, and your other documents are.

Mitigating this starts with timing: request consent as early as possible, well before other closing steps are finalized, rather than treating it as a late-stage formality. Where your lease includes a deadline or deeming provision for landlord responses, use it; where it doesn't, put requests in writing, follow up formally, and consider whether a demand letter is warranted if the delay becomes unreasonable.

Your purchase agreement should also anticipate this risk directly, with realistic outside dates and a clear plan for what happens if consent still hasn't arrived by then. A Treadstone business lawyer can help you plan around landlord consent as the variable it usually is.