What happens if my landlord simply never responds to my request to assign the lease?

Silence creates real risk for your closing timeline, and how it's treated depends on your lease's own wording rather than any automatic rule that no-response equals consent or refusal. Some leases include a deeming provision — for example, treating the landlord's failure to respond within a set number of days as consent, or conversely as a refusal you can then challenge. Many leases say nothing about a response deadline at all, which leaves you with an open-ended wait.

If your lease is silent, you generally cannot simply assume consent and proceed; doing so risks the landlord later arguing the assignment was never validly approved and pursuing you or your buyer for breach. Instead, put your request in writing, keep a clear paper trail, set a reasonable deadline for a response, and follow up formally before treating the silence as an effective refusal.

Because a stalled response can jeopardize your entire sale timeline, it's worth escalating early rather than waiting until closing is imminent. A Treadstone business lawyer can send a formal demand for a decision and advise on your options if the landlord keeps stalling.