Should a landlord redirect customers to ex-bad tenant ?

J

jimmmy

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A friend has a difficult decision to make. A commercial tenant who had a shop left the landlords property, after a lengthy legal dispute and owing a lot of rent and leaving the premises in a worse state than when they first rented it. The tenant has relocated to a smaller unit in a less central location. The landlord occuplies the unit next door. As some people come asking about the tenant who left, what should the landlord say ?

Should he say the truth....the tenant left after being given solicitors notice to quit for non-payment of rent .... or the tenant is now in x street......or he does not know where the tenant is ...or should he suggest they go to the tenants competitors ? Or put up a sign showing directions to the ex-tenants present location ( to save explaining probably hundreds of times), even though the landord is out of pocket a lot ( tens of thousands).

I would say some other landlords in Dublin may have the same thing happen before the year is out, and maybe someone else has come upon this problem before / how best to deal with it.
 
If the tenant has treated the landlord in this way, then all the landlord needs to say is that the previous tenant has closed down. - And possibly suggest an alternative.

He/she has no obligation whatsoever to the old tenant - and if the tenant has treated the landlord in this manner, he probably treats the customer in a similar way, so the landlord is probably doing a favour to the customers by directing them to a different retailer.
 
Maybe not going as far as saying the tenant is closed down, but I'd certainly say the tenant is no longer trading from there, and leave it at that.
 
Personally would tell them where tenant is now without any further comment. In business you never know when you will meet someone again in the future.
 
Just wondering what would happen if the landlord put up a sign on the now-vacant building to the effect " UVWX....XXXYZ ltd is gone - if you are owed money, please contact abc "

Its what the landlord feels like doing, as he is owed rent and other money from when the tenant was there.


N.B "UVWX....XXXYZ ltd" is a totally fictionous name I made up, used to hide the identity of the real firm. The name bears no resemblance to a real business or name as far as I know.
 
I'd be very careful about saying anything about the firm. Not alone just for the reason mentioned by Vanilla (this island is very small) but also that you might end up in court. Before doing anything i'd ask a solicitor.
 
Hi,
If your friend's bad tenant has set up somewhere else then he must have probably had a quarters rent in advance to give his new landlord;if he has a new business then he had to kit it out with shelving,stock etc.

One could conclude that the tenant was selective in who he paid and who he didn't when he was in your friends shop.
If I was your mate I would issue legal proceedings to recover the rent. He may not even have to go to court as the former tenant will be concerned about his standing in his new business with suppliers/landlord etc.

I have an article here [broken link removed] which explains the procedure for pursuing debts and in which court.

Solicitors,like everybody else at the moment,are feeling the pinch and he will find one easily at a competitive price only too willing to take it on.
 
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I would be selective about what I tell people. If they are potential customers, I would simply say that the previous tenant has closed the adjacent premises and moved out.

If they are people seeking payments, debt collectors, tax inspectors etc. I would direct them to his new address.
 
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