Hi,
A friend [ I know how that sounds ;-) ] will be seeking legal advice about this shortly, but I'm posting this here in case anyone has an opinion they'd like to share?
He took out a multi-year lease (retail) about 6 months before the economy turned, so the rent agreed was phenomenally expensive.
About 12 months ago, the landlord verbally agreed to reduce the rent by 50%. The 50% reduction means the business now breaks even, instead of shipping large monthly losses. There is no paper or electronic record of this agreement.
So, a year after this verbal agreement (a) the original lease remains unchanged/has not be drawn up to reflect the new rent but (b) the landlord has been accepting the rent payments as 50% of those agreed in the lease.
The Lease ends in around a year's time, at which point my friend will no longer want to rent these premises, but continue their business elsewhere.
So my question is.. at the end of the Lease agreement, can the landlord legally pursue him for 'outstanding rent' i.e. the extra 50% per month that should have been paid each month according to the terms of the lease.
Or is there any way that the law interprets the fact that the landlord accepted the lower rent for 2 years as a kind of 'defacto' new rental agreement?
Any input appreciated, cheers.
A friend [ I know how that sounds ;-) ] will be seeking legal advice about this shortly, but I'm posting this here in case anyone has an opinion they'd like to share?
He took out a multi-year lease (retail) about 6 months before the economy turned, so the rent agreed was phenomenally expensive.
About 12 months ago, the landlord verbally agreed to reduce the rent by 50%. The 50% reduction means the business now breaks even, instead of shipping large monthly losses. There is no paper or electronic record of this agreement.
So, a year after this verbal agreement (a) the original lease remains unchanged/has not be drawn up to reflect the new rent but (b) the landlord has been accepting the rent payments as 50% of those agreed in the lease.
The Lease ends in around a year's time, at which point my friend will no longer want to rent these premises, but continue their business elsewhere.
So my question is.. at the end of the Lease agreement, can the landlord legally pursue him for 'outstanding rent' i.e. the extra 50% per month that should have been paid each month according to the terms of the lease.
Or is there any way that the law interprets the fact that the landlord accepted the lower rent for 2 years as a kind of 'defacto' new rental agreement?
Any input appreciated, cheers.