Business Landlord problems.

D

dave

Guest
Hi There bit of a long one here sorry.

Had a one page agreement with our landlord which he is now calling a lease. On the agreement it says that there will be a rent review after a period of two years. So when the two years were up (last August) he came in and said that the rent was going up 30%. I got a little concerned and priced around, as it turned out I got a much bigger unit almost twice the size and half the price. I didn't sign a new lease as I was only pricing around. The landlord found out I was pricing around and came in to the shop and basically went crazy in the shop with customers there shouting and roaring abuse at me. This continued for about 2 weeks and it became apparent that we should leave to stay in business.

I employed the servies of a solicitor and he looked at our current agreement and looked over the new lease. He then sent the Landlord a letter explaining that we were leaving and ensured our new lease was a normal agreement (We had a few letters go back and forth between solictors and then didn't hear back from the landlord). I then paid our solictor for his services which came to an astonishing 2k. Heard nothing from the old landlord then suddenly 7 months latter we get a letter saying he is taking us to court.

I'm not sure what to do now should I call back the solictor who cost a fortune or should I just reply to the letter saying I am representing myself.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
dave said:
Hi There bit of a long one here sorry.

Had a one page agreement with our landlord which he is now calling a lease. On the agreement it says that there will be a rent review after a period of two years. So when the two years were up (last August) he came in and said that the rent was going up 30%. I got a little concerned and priced around, as it turned out I got a much bigger unit almost twice the size and half the price. I didn't sign a new lease as I was only pricing around. The landlord found out I was pricing around and came in to the shop and basically went crazy in the shop with customers there shouting and roaring abuse at me. This continued for about 2 weeks and it became apparent that we should leave to stay in business.

I employed the servies of a solicitor and he looked at our current agreement and looked over the new lease. He then sent the Landlord a letter explaining that we were leaving and ensured our new lease was a normal agreement (We had a few letters go back and forth between solictors and then didn't hear back from the landlord). I then paid our solictor for his services which came to an astonishing 2k. Heard nothing from the old landlord then suddenly 7 months latter we get a letter saying he is taking us to court.

I'm not sure what to do now should I call back the solictor who cost a fortune or should I just reply to the letter saying I am representing myself.

Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

If you didn't sign the new contract I can't see why he wants to take you to court.
 
Dave,
You seem to be a bit unsure of things.
Firstly, as I understand it, a lease is a lease whatever its written on and however long or short it is providing it has some basic ingredients.
  • the parties
  • the premises
  • the term
  • the payments
Secondly, solicitors like all professionals, charge money for theri services, get over it :)
If you didn't get an estimate of fees beforehand, shame on you.
Finally, will you at least state why he's taking you to court for so an opinion can be formed.
 
Hi Sorry if I was a bit short on information.

1) He is taking us to court because we left the agreement. Our rent was €2,100 a month he is taking us to court for €2,800 *30 because he is claiming that is what he has lost over us leaving the premises. I couldn't run the business if we were paying 2,800 a month.

2) Point taken regarding the solicitor.

3) Well the contract was for 4 years and 7 months with a rent review after two years so we didn't need to sign a new contract.

I suppose my point been before I had even signed a contract for the new premises the landlord had come into my shop shouting and roaring at me in front of customers. The Gardai were called and he was removed, however he came back shortly after the Gardai left doing the same thing. I was then forced into a position to move as this looked like it may continue until a decision was made. He also made the point that because the Rent review had no clause in it that he could put it up to €5,000 a month if I didn't "play ball" he told me it was completly up to his discretion as to what he can charge.
 
Trying to sum things up:

You signed an agreement to rent the place for 4 years and 7 months.
This agreement had provision for a rent review after 2 years.
Rent review was carried out and landlord proposed increase from €2.1k to €2.8k.
You did not agree with this increase and left?
I also assume that this is a simple review - not accompanies by a break clause?

Rent reviews which are not automatically linked to something like the CPI can be appealed if disputed (appeal process is usually stated in most leases). I assume you disputed the review?

If a review is disputed, the terms of the original agreement stand until such time as the dispute is resolved.

Without seeing the paperwork, there may be a fundamental weakness in your case. You did sign an agreement to rent the premise for 4 years and 7 months at a minimum of €2,100. So you are obliged to fulfill this contract and the landlord could persue you for this rent. The correct thing to do would have been to continue to pay the €2,100 until the review dispute is settled, and even if the review dispute was settled 100% in your favour, the €2,100 for 4 years 7 months would still stand and still be owed to the landlord. Disputing a rent review usually does not give the tenant a right to walk away. What you do have going for you is the behaviour of the landlord - his rants in your shop may be in breach of your "quiet enjoyment" of your premises.
 
Hey guys thanks for the help.

csirl- It appears that is my best defence. We genuinely could not trade properly in the shop. It wasn't like he was coming in and talking to me he was shouting making it a very uncomfortable place for customers.

sconhome- This is your friend!
 
I did dispute the review, however when I disputed with the landlord he told me it's not up for discussion and to consider myself lucky he wasn't going to put it up any further.
 
Dave - If I was you I would be back to the Solicitor who dealt with the issue in the first place. He will be familiar with the details and should be able to write to the landlord at a reasonable cost.

He should be point out to the landlord that his completely unacceptable behaviour left you with no option but to seek an alternative premises. You are entilted to quiet enjoyment of the property under a lease and could not be expected to continue to run your business from the premises with the fear of further attacks from the landlord. At the point when he came into the shop you had not actually broken the lease but were checking out alternatives which you are perfectly entitled to do and which is none of the landlord's business. Depending on what he said to you you may be able to threaten him with a counterclaim for slander but at the very least he should be made aware that his actions have damaged your business reputation and caused you to have to move and you will seek compensatin from him for the damage to your reputation and trouble/cost of moving which you may not have done but for his actions.
 
yes, write down everything now, keep good notes in the future.. report the landlord to the police and get a written confirmation from them of your report.. you must say that you had no choice but to move out.. your lease was for 55 months, so if it has ended after 24 months someone broke it early.. you must make it so that your l andlord broke the lease first, by ranting and raving, by making personal attacks on you, by threatening you, by interfering with your customers etc etc..


Can you get some customers to give you signed statements as to his behaviour and the effect it had on them.. this would be very good for you.

He sounds like trouble.. he will probably go to extraordinary lengths to pursue you, you may have to fight all the way too, whether you want to or not. You will need a solicitor.. instruct him to say that you will be seeking damages, and all costs you are incurring (like solicitors fees) from the landlord.

So make notes all the time, report any dodgy behaviour to the Gardai.. don't be afraid to state things in very bald terms.. i.e the landlord is in threatening me at the top of his voice, invading my personal space etc.. record this if possible, have you got cameras up?

Tricky situation.. be careful with leases the next time.. it seems that he was entitled to raise the rent to any amount he wanted (unless there is protection for you of some sort).. however he has killed the golden goose by acting as he has. It will still likely cost you a lot to sort this out.
 
The most important matter already pointed out is the 'quiet enjoyment clause'. In view of your calling the Gardai leaves this matter without dispute. A counter claim should be issued and get this creep off yout back. Its people like this that get landlords a bad name.
 
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