Landlords who lock-out business tenants

[69spider69]

Last year I bought a business and rented a shop dry cleaners) from an Asian gentleman. We had verbal aggreements for me to repay money I owed to him but last week he gave me 48 hrs to repay the money in cash, not through the business. He threatened me and a female worker with physical violance, we informed the police he got a locksmith an a heavy and made us take our personal belongings and leave. He is now trading my business and NOONE will help us without a bucket of money up front! There was a 21 day clause in the lease but he made no attempt to go throught the court or mediate??

[yeahbutno]

Have you broken any of the terms of the lease? Is the rent in arrears for example? If not, you should be able to sue him for "relief from forfeiture" IMO.

However, the if the terms of your "verbal" agreement over repayments contradict what is written in the lease or purchase agreement then it might be a different kettle of fish.

Regarding the threats you should push the poliss to take action.

By the way - why is it relevant that the person in question is Asian? :confused:

[rowleyn]

:confused:My parents have (had) a small cake / light snacks shop on a garden cente site, they made many verbal agreements with the owner of the site, on what they were "allowed" to sell and they agreed with these , they did a complete refit to the shop, which was in a very poor state of affairs when they arrived, this costing many thousands on it's own!

The landlord helped them in sourcing a cooker, tables and chairs chiller cabinet and helped with many aspects of the refit, however they had been open a number of weeks and the landlords attitude to them changed virtually over night. The landlord "demanded" that they turn their shop into a doughnuty stand and nothing else and if they did sell anything it would have to be items that could be sold either elsewhere or off site, this would have been financial suicide for them!

At the start of the lease for the building the landlord refused to sign the lease as he said there were some alterations to it that were needed to be made, this lease stated that it woulod be a cake and light snacks shop and "used for nothing else whatsoever" the new lease that came back was for a "doughnut stand, used for nothing else whatsoever", my parents did not sign this and the landlord kept taking the rent at the start of each week as he had always done.

Eventually he decided he had had enough and sent two "incoherent" letters saying that he would be taking action against them if they did not turn the place into a doughnut stand, they met with him both times and he stuck his feet firmly into the ground and refused to listen to the facts about the origional agreement.

About three weeks ago, he placed two locks on the doors and refused to let them in to deal with the stock in chillers / fridges.

he has refused to talk to them again, they have spoken to his solicitor, who replied "my client has said he is dealing with this matter by himself".

Now they are seeking legal advice and spendinng money they could do with saving, does anyone have any advice on what they can do, I am very worried about them as I have found out recently that this man is quite violent and has done this many times ADVICE PLEASE!

[jeffrey]

They seem to have a Business Lease ,even though it's oral. If so, they are protected by Part II of Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
However, it's up to them to enforce their rights. They should not try this unadvised but need a commercial litigation solicitor pdq.

[n944]

Hello everyone, I have a bit of a scenario that I'm hoping you guys can help with.

We rent a commercial unit from a local authority housing association. We have fallen behind on the rent which now amounts to around 6k. We made a payment of £1400 towards the rent, which the authority cashed and after 5 weeks returned the amount back to us - we still haven't banked their cheque. Around 7 days after recieving their cheque they instructed a bailiff to enter the premises and change the locks and bypass the alarm. The local authority did not serve us with any notice. We have since attended their offices after tens of calls were not returned. We offered them the arrears in full immediately. They said speak with our solicitors; calls then went unanswered with their solicitors. After getting a local councillor involved they have finally contacted us. They will allow us back in the shop, not with a lease but with a 'license'. Which I guess will be a diluted version of the lease. We have refused to accept this and are going to submit a relief and forfiture application. What are the general success' of these applications and going by the above info, do we have a case.

Any help would be hugely appreciated.

Norm

[Lawcruncher]

I am not a litigator, but as I understand it the court will grant relief from forfeiture if the tenant is able to pay all the arrears and there are no other issues which lead the court to the conclusion that relief should not be granted.

Accepting rent, waiting five weeks to send it back and then suggesting a licence under which you would presumably have de facto exclusive occupation all suggests that the HA has a week grasp of the relevant law.

[n944]

Thanks for the reply Lawcruncher. We are trying to arrange a meeting with the Housing Association before we apply for relief. Is their entry without notice illegal? Is it a legal requirement to serve notice before entry? How would normally cover the costs of change of locks etc and the alterations made to the security system if they have entered illegaly?

Thanks

[Lawcruncher]

As I recall, no notice is needed if re-entry is on account of arrears of rent.

[micknv]

hi we are after some advice !

We have rented a first floor office for 18 months with no writen agreement in place. just before christmas we got our monthley invoice for the rent and the landlord insisted that we pay it the same day so we did at the same time we advised that we would be giving the office up in the next couple of months. we belive the landlord to be in finacial trouble. that day the landlord tried to evict us there and then by bringing some blokes and telling them to empty our office we managed to stop him. next day he changed the locks on the main door into the building so we used a locksmith to gain access and emptied our office I belive the reason for all of his actions was that he was upset that we were going to leave !!

Can we claim agianst the landlord for forcing us out as he should have served us with a notice to end the tenancy. surley he cant just change the locks and thretan us with his heavy mates

we have now rented an office in a local bussiness centre with an agreement

[Don Beech]

You probably could, but is it really worth it.

Legal action can very quickly turn very expensive, and can take up an extraordinary amount of time. You could only claim for any financial loss, which appears to be minimal.

If I were you, I could concentrate on my business, the future, and look at this a one of lifes little 'events' to ve viewed with amusement.

[jeffrey]

We have rented a first floor office for 18 months with no writen agreement in place.
Sorry, but why on earth do you do that?

[jamied]

My landlord has swapped the padlocks on a unit im renting off him and now i can't get in, at the moment im with holding a months rent due to him not keeping the unit in a proper state and lack of contract/invoice/receipts. Went up today and found a note and the locks changed.

Now main things i have asked for:

The unit has Structual damage (large cracks in 20 foot walls) which i have asked to be repaired, this is caused by 8 - 10 huge lilandi (sp) trees growing a few feet from the unit.

I have also asked for the lights to be sorted and an electrical report for my insurance.

I have also asked for a contract to be drawn up (been in there over 12 months) and recepits of my payments.

I know he is not claiming for the rent paid and he is telling me that the rates are in with the rent (bull) so he is not in the clear.

But im annoyed as he has called me on my old mobile (which has been dead for over 3 months) and not on the business one i have. This morning i got to the unit and found a note and the locks changed.

Now my business law/landlord - tennat law is rusty but im sure what he has done is illegal.

I have called my solicitor but he can't get back to me till tomorrow afternoon.

Any know where i should stand? can i 'remove' the locks or do i need to call in an expecive locksmith and charge him?

[Poppy]

What type of lease do you have? Who is responsible for the repairs you describe?

Are you sure that withholding rent is wise?

[jamied]

I have no lease what so ever, the unit is attached to his property/land. i have asked for an aggrement to be made, invoices, receipts ect but have had nothing for a year now.

The repairs are done by his builder friend but it takes months to get things sorted and when done the work is not very good at all.

With-holding the rent is to make him know im not happy with the level of service im getting.

[Poppy]

You do have a lease. A more learned member will be along to explain the type of lease you have and who (tenant or landlord) is responsible for repairs.

[jamied]

ok cheers for the help at the moment...just getting very annoyed as im not doing anything wrong and im getting cheesed off with asking for things to be done.

[jeffrey]

I have no lease what so ever.
Yes, you do, as Poppy said. Here's why:


My landlord...on a unit I'm renting off him
So you have at least an oral tenancy. If you use the premises for your business, Part II of LTA 1954 protects it.