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In a triple net lease, the rent you're quoted is just the down payment on what you'll actually pay.

Triple net leases are common in commercial real estate, but they trip up tenants who focus on the base rent without understanding the “nets.” In an NNN lease, the tenant takes on property taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs — expenses a residential renter would never see. The quoted rent can look attractive while the true cost is far higher. This guide explains how triple net leases work, what they really cost a business tenant, and what to watch and negotiate before signing one.

We help businesses get this right from the start. This is general information, not advice on a specific situation.

In a triple net lease, the quoted rent is just the beginning of what you’ll pay.

What a triple net lease is

In a triple net (NNN) lease, the tenant pays three categories of cost on top of base rent: property taxes, building insurance, and maintenance — the “three nets.” This shifts expenses to the tenant that landlords bear under other lease structures. The Legal Information Institute’s overview of a law.cornell.edu frames the lease as a negotiated allocation of rights and obligations, and the NNN structure allocates most property costs to the tenant. The result is that base rent in an NNN lease is only part of the picture; the total occupancy cost is base rent plus the nets, which can be substantial.

The “three nets” — taxes, insurance, maintenance — are yours to pay.

Why the quoted rent is misleading

Because an NNN lease separates base rent from the nets, a quoted rate can look far cheaper than a comparable gross lease where the landlord covers those costs. Comparing leases on base rent alone is a common and costly mistake. To understand what you’ll actually pay, you must estimate the nets — taxes, insurance, and maintenance or common-area charges — and add them to base rent. The Small Business Administration’s guidance on sba.gov highlights how occupancy cost affects a business. Only the fully-loaded cost allows a fair comparison and a realistic budget.

What to watch in the nets

The details of how the nets are calculated and charged matter greatly. Watch how maintenance and common-area charges are defined (broad definitions can sweep in costs you wouldn’t expect), whether charges are capped, how your share is allocated in a multi-tenant property, and whether you’re exposed to large capital expenses like a roof or HVAC replacement. Property tax increases and insurance costs can also rise over the term. Understanding exactly what falls into each net, and how it can grow, is essential to avoiding the surprise charges NNN tenants most often complain about.

What to negotiate

Even in an NNN structure, terms are negotiable. Tenants can seek caps on annual increases in controllable maintenance charges, clear definitions limiting what counts as a pass-through, exclusion or amortization of major capital expenses, and — importantly — audit rights allowing the tenant to verify the landlord’s charges. As the law.cornell.edu framework reflects, commercial tenants rely on the lease itself for these protections. Negotiating them converts an open-ended obligation into a more predictable, verifiable cost. A well-negotiated NNN lease still shifts costs to the tenant, but with limits and transparency that protect against abuse.

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