Lawyers, commercial landlord question.

lendaddy · 06:27 AM

Our business went under and we've been negotiating with everyone involved. There are not enough assets to go around but the bank is in first position on those assets.

Anyway, we've been working with the landlord and have not contested him in any way thus far. We were to be "forced" out legally(though amicably) in a few weeks I guess and our bank was setting up an auction on the contents. We had been informed of the process by our lawyer and knew roughly how long we had. The landlord had not said anything to us about anything and we had even "shown" the building to some potential replacement tenants for him.

Then last week he came in out of nowhere and forced us out, changed the locks, put up a bunch of trespassing signs and even towed away (sold?) a couple of semi-trailers and a plow truck. I don't know if he sold anything inside or not since we can't get in. He even threatened to take our personal vehicles that were parked inside...it was a complete 180. We did not contest him at all, simply grabbed a few files and left. I expressed my apologies, explained the circumstances a bit, shook his hand and walked away. This calmed him quite a bit which leads me to believe some massive mis-communications have been happening with the lawyers or whatever.

It was odd given how we were working with him and the guy has been semi-pleasant. I 100% see his side and understand his emotions but I don't think he had any legal right to do what he did until the court ordered us out.

Please save the "Get your dead-beat ass out if you're not paying" crap, it's way more complicated than that. Banks and lease companies are involved and we couldn't move that stuff if we wanted to as it's not ours. We lost everything when this company went under and although I feel terrible that others took a hit with us there are still rules to play by. I think the landlord may have let his emotions guide him into something stupid. Any thoughts?

126coupe · 126coupe's Garage

I'm not an attorney, but I am a commercial RE landlord. Here in CA that would be an illegal eviction. He never gave you notice (3 or 30 day to pay or quit).
If not and thats the law in your state he could be in a world of Shi&^&%.

stomachmonkey · 03-16-2009, 07:41 AM

If you have officially filed Chp 11 papers then what he did was steal from probate.

Dueller · 08:07 AM

IF you have filed for bankruptcy, whether 7 or 11, AND the LL was listed as a creditor, AND if the LL has not been authorized by the Court to take such actions, then LL is in violation of the automatic stay barring him from taking such actions.

Call your atty immediately.

If you have not filed for BK and do not have a lawyer, inform the bank immediately and get them on as your ally in this situation; ii.e., let them do the dirty work. Then go hire yourselves a lawyer.

KFC911 · 03-16-2009, 08:10 AM

Good luck Lendaddy! I know it must really suck to be going through this...

126coupe · 126coupe's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC911

Good luck Lendaddy! I know it must really suck to be going through this...

+1, Just curious, what business was this?

turbo6bar · 03-16-2009, 08:17 AM

Certainly does not sound like legal action by your landlord. Your lease and applicable state laws should provide guidance. Use your lawyer.

the · 03-16-2009, 08:45 AM

I'm going to assume there was no bky filed by the company. What would be the point of that? That would have many potential unintended consequences and would very likely be a big mistake. (i.e., it would serve no purpose, and would suddenly put you under the jurisdiction of the Federal court, a US Trustee, a Bky trustee, disclosures, penalty of perjury, etc. etc. etc.)

So I'll assume there is no bky.

Does he have his lawyer involved? If so, he may just be doing what the lawyer told him to do. That doesn't necessarily make it legal or right, though. You need to have your lawyer VERY carefully look at what the LL has done.

It would be very sweet if the LL acted improperly. Because even though the company is now essentially an empty shell (i.e. the turnip from which no blood can be had), you still need to be worried about the PGs. Any improper actions by the LL can give rise to cross-claims and defenses that may be very useful to you down the road. You need to talk to your lawyer to explore those, and determine the best way to document them, damages, etc. And you may not want to do anything that will prevent further improper actions by the LL against the company.

911Rob · 911Rob's Garage

maybe your landlord is Canadian?
Because here a commercial landlord can do 'stuff' like that; proper notices pending of course.
A residential landlord has no rights per sa; but Comm is different; in BC, Canada.

Wish you better days! I've been through that $hat, keep your head up.

lendaddy · 03-16-2009, 10:21 AM

Thanks guys, I'm just getting out of yet another interview and posting this from my phone. I'll post more details later when I get home. FWIW the company has not/will not be filling (no point) but the LL did sue us for rent and eviction which we agreed to....the time line just hadn't played out.

lendaddy · 03-16-2009, 01:29 PM

So anyway, the LL does have a lawyer though in dealing with him I think he's overpaying for what he's getting

The lawyer has listed some oddball company (clerical error I'm sure) as a joint defendant on every filing since the beginning, even after I pointed it out.

But yea, we met with him a few months ago and told him we were screwed and were wanting to work with him in whatever way we could. He said his partners have their system of dealing with this and he had to sue, fine...no problem and we did not contest his suit in any way. After the default judgment was ordered we were told (by our lawyer)it would be X number of days(14 I think) until he could toss our stuff to the curb. Well we only got 2-3 days into it before he booted us.