rent-free period

rent-free period

A sometimes misleading term indicating a landlord concession regarding a period of time during which the tenant will not have to pay any rent. It is truly rent-free if the uncollected rent is not rolled into the back end of the lease or otherwise recaptured over the term of the tenancy. If the tenant must pay the rent, but simply at another time and in smaller increments, then it is more properly called deferred rent. Even landlords often misuse the two words, so persons shopping for space should specifically inquire about the free-rent versus deferred-rent issue when receiving quotes.