Commercial property landlord

[07MaxwhitE]

at the beginning of this year, the landlord raised the rent on the property but didnt tell us. so when he found out that we are selling the place, he sent his agent to tell us that we owe him the balance from when the rent went up. the agent gave a written figure of what we owe to bring us current $1600. i have this paper but i didnt get him to sign it. he made the lease assesment(sp?), and the figure he has on there is 14,000+. in that he is charging us for even before the rent started, when construction was going on. also the landlord is charging 3/4 to pay for roof repair that he got done to the property, the other tenant is white (im not racist), but he doesnt have a roof bill to pay.

what can i do from having him charge me for this other bullshit?

[_Christian_]

take that white devil to court

[07MaxwhitE]

and to add to the games this bastard is playing, his agent apparently left town. the landlord himself hasnt showed up to his office for 3 days, his office is right across the street. these two fuckers are completely ignoring me, and there is no way to get in touch with either of them.

im trying to stay away from going to court, for personal reasons, and we only have one employee working and i take care of the customers. so what other options do i have left?

and also like i said above, i have a written quote of how much i owe him but that paper isnt signed... so, thats also kind of a problem.

but let me know if any one can help me in this situation

[Jaimecbr900]

There's more to this story, because as it is it doesn't make sense.


#1. You can't have a "landlord" if you own the place. You either own it and have a mortgage or rent it and have a lease. Do you have a mortgage or a lease?

#2. Have you been paying your rent on time? If so, why is there money "owed" for? If not, then depending on the terms of the lease, he may be able to accelerate the total amount due, i.e. in the process of eviction.

#3. Everything that you can and can't do is outlined inside the lease or purchase agreement. You can't go outside the 4 corners of that document. In other words, if he didn't put an increase clause in, he can't unilaterally make changes. Most commercial leases include a yearly increase that is usually expressed in % of the previous year's rent. If he doesn't have one, then he is not allowed to merely jack up the rent. Again, the lease or purchase agreement should clearly say or in this case NOT say what can and can't be done.

#4. If you don't have a lease and you don't own the place, you are in big trouble. Without a lease agreement, you become what's called a tenant-at-will or month-to-month tenant. If this is the case, he CAN (with proper notice) make changes with as little as 30 days notice. This includes evictions and rent raises. Just as you can leave without penalty, usually with a 30 day notice. Sometimes month-to-month leasees are even allowed to merely pack up and leave at the end of the last month paid.

Hope this helps.

[07MaxwhitE]

the property is leased. but the charges he is asking for is, when we first opened the store, he gave us 3 months free. now he wants to go back and say that we owe him for those 3 months. also like i said above, he also wants us to pay a portion of the roof repair bill. the story behind the roof is, he got an unlicensed contractor to build the building, had so many issues with passing inspections. but the roof was done by the same guy and unlicensed + no guarantee = more problems. so then the roof started leaking all over and had to get it repaired and he wants us to pay a portion of the bill.