Rav Yosef Kushner
Answer: If someone leases or rents a building from another, it is considered to be under his control for all practical purposes, and he would be responsible for chametz left there on Pesach.
If someone leases an office space where non-Jewish employees will bring chametz into the common areas on Pesach, he faces a serious halachic challenge. We said that if someone owns such a building, he should sell it before Pesach. However, this option may not be available to someone who is leasing from another, as they are not owners and do not have the right to sell the building.
Some have suggested that they may sub-lease the building; however, there may be clauses in the contract that prohibit sub-leases, and even if one would be allowed to sub-lease, it is not clear that this option would work halachically if the original person on the lease still has control of the building.
Practically speaking, the best option would be for the leaser to enact a "no food allowed" policy for the duration of Pesach. If this is not possible, his only option would be to sell his entire business before Pesach. This would not be a breach of the lease, as the same business would still be leasing the space, albeit under different ownership.
Such a sale must be formulated in a very specific way, and one should discuss with his Rav how to arrange it.
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