Tenants rights when landlord has judgment against him

Hi,

A friend of mine rents a commercial unit for his business, from where he provides a service to the public.

There's been a commercial judgment awarded against his landlord for a substantial amount, by his creditors.

My friend is worried about the impact this will have on his business, the equipment on the premises which he kitted out himself and also worried what could happen his customers property if the locks are changed overnight.

He pays the landlord into his account by standing order. The landlord hasn't spoken't to him about this yet and the lease is due for renewal within the next few months.

Should he look for another premises and move his business and equipment asap? He's in a good location and would find it difficult to find somewhere suitable.

Should he continue there until the lease expires & renew it or should he not renew under any circumstances?

Will the current landlord be allowed to renew it or will some other entity be renewing the lease eg, bank etc.

He'd appreciate your advice.

Bluebutton

With what happend with that older couple being evicted out of their rented accomodation I would say move asap. No harm getting advice from a solicitor though too.

BlueButton said:

Will the current landlord be allowed to renew it or will some other entity be renewing the lease eg, bank etc.

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As it's a commercial entity, persumably the next owner will also want to rent it out to someone like your friend.

The first step is to talk to the current landlord to find out what is going on.

niceoneted said:

With what happend with that older couple being evicted out of their rented accomodation I would say move asap. No harm getting advice from a solicitor though too.

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You mean the overholding case where they were preventing the bank/receiver from selling?

I'll have a stab at answering your question from my understanding of how these things tend to work, but what I say could be wrong. To be sure, talk to a solicitor who specializes in commercial lettings.

I see no basis at all for 'changing the locks overnight'. Even if the property was granted to the creditors in question, or to a receiver, and they responded in that way, you'd have a slam-dunk lawsuit against them.

I would respectfully disagree with the poster who suggested you get out of there ASAP--moving is expensive. There is also the hidden cost of disrupting your clients who will not know, and may not like, your change of location. Don't move unless you have solid advice of risk.

Relax, but do see a solicitor for advice.

Thanks for all your replies. He's spoken to his solicitor who says the premises could be closed down at any time and he'd have to prove ownership of his equipment. He's also owed his deposit, which he doubts he'll ever see again.