Sister Locked Out of Business 12k in Unpaid Rent

[Apollo]

Yep pretty predictable outcome. However she has all her

equipment/computers/furniture etc still inside. Short of coughing up 12k, is there a

way to gain access to remove her property?

[sc_rufctr]

That's a big hairy one.

Short answer is yes but she would have to go through the tribunal process which could takes weeks if not months and even then nothing is certain.
But I would expect that she should be able to pick up her personal stuff at least.

Can she come up with any of the un-paid rent?
.......... Maybe make a lower offer but that would depend on the value of the stuff left behind.

[motion]

She should just stick the man with $12K in unpaid rent. Yeah, that's the way to do it.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by motion

She should just stick the man with $12K in unpaid rent. Yeah, that's the way to do it.

That's happened to me... One lady owes me about 9K and she emptied the house before she left.
I only knew the place was empty because the neighbor called me to complain about the noise. Apparently loading a trailer at night can be noisy.

[Bill Douglas]

Tell the ***** to pay her rent.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

If she can't pay the rent, the business is not viable and she ought to be liquidating, IMHO.

[porsche4life]

Sounds like her landlord will be liquidating. These things take time, not like she didn't know this day was coming.

[Rot 911]

I'd have to say I am on the side of the landlord.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Apollo

Yep pretty predictable outcome. However she has all her

equipment/computers/furniture etc still inside. Short of coughing up 12k, is there a

way to gain access to remove her property?

She could break in and get it all back. Then report the theft to her insurance, assuming it's paid up. If she is lucky the insurance reimbursement will be more than the $12k she owes so she can pay that off and still pocket some cash as well as continue to run her business.

What could possibly go wrong?

[fred cook]

I had a commercial tenant to stop paying his rent because of something that I as a landlord had no control over. After about 3 months of no rent check, I locked him out. He groused about it for a few days and then came up with his back rent. Once I got that, I told him to hit the road. Unfortunately he left a good bit of (useless) equipment in the space that I had to dispose of. A classic case of nobody wins!

[fintstone]

Perhaps she should get a loan (from someone else) to pay off her back rent. The landlord would probably settle for $10K. She can get her stuff out and start making money again or liquidate her equipment to pay down most of the loan and pay the remainder over time (or simply screw someone else by not paying after getting her stuff).

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

She could break in and get it all back.

What could possibly go wrong?

This should have been in green !

I have to say as the landlord, I would liquidate whatever the delinquent tennant left behind in order to get some satisfaction of debt.

[Craig T]

I'm with the landlords here. I get so damned frustrated with people who take no accountability for their debts or financial obligations. I'm sure the OP and his sister believe the landlord is the bad guy…never giving a thought to the fact that he's probably carrying a mortgage on the building.

I've been in the landlords situation more than once. The catch 22…Having the space vacant searching for a new tenant vs. taking a chance on the tenant eventually coming up with the money. Who knows how long he let her slide.

I've been strung along only to have a midnight flight as well. AHHHH!!!!!!!

[epbrown]

Originally Posted by Craig T

I'm with the landlords here. I get so damned frustrated with people who take no accountability for their debts or financial obligations. I'm sure the OP and his sister believe the landlord is the bad guy…never giving a thought to the fact that he's probably carrying a mortgage on the building.

The OP pretty clearly thinks his sister is in the wrong.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Rot 911

I'd have to say I am on the side of the landlord.

Me too.

It is not like a rent payment is an unexpected bill or cost that surprised her. 12K in rent is not insignificant. If she can't pay her rent I bet her other bills are delinquent as well.

[vash]

zero opinion here:

but curious as to what type of business it was..and what kinda duration is the delinquency? $12k = how many months?

[Rinty]

Originally Posted by Apollo

Yep pretty predictable outcome. However she has all her

equipment/computers/furniture etc still inside. Short of coughing up 12k, is there a

way to gain access to remove her property?

The landlord won't want her stuff, so he may be amenable to making a deal to release it, while reserving his right to pursue her and/or her company for damages and accelerated rent. But at this point your sister, or a family member, may be throwing good money after bad.

Any business that isn't paying its landlord, has to be in dire financial straits.

Good luck, and I would keep my distance.

[wildthing]

I see your location as Australia. The laws may be different there, maybe they are more tenant-friendly. Otherwise, your sister is out of luck.

[lendaddy]

Yep, not sure of the laws there but the LandLord doesn't generally get to just "lock a bltch out", they have to go through legal process and generally being locked out isn't a surprise (though many landlords do it anyway). Not defending it, your sis is a hump but here she would have recourse (I think, my advice is worth what you paid for it ).

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Apollo

Yep pretty predictable outcome. However she has all her

equipment/computers/furniture etc still inside. Short of coughing up 12k, is there a

way to gain access to remove her property?

I play baseball with a guy who owns and manages industrial buildings in Jessup, Md. and he has some amazing stories of just how goofy that business can get.

The last thing he wants to do is keep the business locked down. He will make very little money on the forced auction of her equipment unless there is something of real value: tables and chairs and other furniture sells for pennies on the dollar. There are whole little mom and pops that feed off forced business auctions and there is a glut, at least in the states, of used office crap. Here is the firm he uses:

Capitol Online Auctions | Business Equipment Liquidation | Estate Sales & Used Office Equipment

Take a few minutes and see what stuff sells for. Unless there are real machines under lock down, the landlord is aware he won't make much off her stuff.

Her landlords best bet is to come to an arrangement with her...She really needs to work with the landlord unless she has already pissed him off, which I think is the case since a lock-down is usually meant to either send a very stern message or is the final straw.

I will also echo the sentiments of others: Her fundamental business plan seems to be at odds with making money.

Another option is to have someone bid on her stuff when it is liquidated. Sorry.