1. to transfer the obligation of a tenant to a new landlord; to acknowledge a new owner as one's landlord
Usage: legal/property law term; often used in real estate transactions
2. to turn over or transfer (property or a right) to another person
Usage: archaic; legal

Examples

• When the property changed hands, the tenant had to attorn to the new owner.
• The lease required tenants to attorn to any successor landlord.
• In the real estate closing, the current tenants agreed to attorn to the new proprietor.
• The document specified that all existing leases would attorn automatically upon sale.