Clearing out a business tenants belongings

Praetorian

I was renting some offices to a small business that I believe has gone out of business. The owner is totally unreachable and we haven't received rent for over a year. The offices are still full with their computers / printers / scanners / general office materials.

Ideally I'd love to get hold of the tenant so he can collect his stuff. But we can't.

Can I legally order a skip and throw all the stuff away? I want to rent out the offices again and I can't.

filbert the fox

Praetorian wrote: »

I was renting some offices to a small business that I believe has gone out of business. The owner is totally unreachable and we haven't received rent for over a year. The offices are still full with their computers / printers / scanners / general office materials.

Ideally I'd love to get hold of the tenant so he can collect his stuff. But we can't.

Can I legally order a skip and throw all the stuff away? I want to rent out the offices again and I can't.

First hack into the computers to check if there are any Bitcoins on there and if not hire a skip and clear out....

wnolan1992

I'd look into selling off the printers and scanners and stuff before skipping them. And depending on how old those computers are, they could have a little treasure trove of parts that are more than salable.

Also there's bound to be a diamond ring or original copy of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in one of the drawers.

Come on man, have you learned NOTHING from Storage Wars?

_Kaiser_

Was there a liquidator appointed? I'd be wary of just throwing stuff out that may be used to repay creditors (including yourself)

looksee

Electronic stuff can be disposed of free so why go to the expense of a skip if you have a van or similar?

Akrasia

The office equipment may have been leased rather than bought outright. Are there any phone numbers on the equipment that may indicate that there is a leasing company that might want their stuff back?

seamus

Do a check with the CRO to see if the company has been struck off. I would maybe also speak with an accountant - they should be able to advise you on how to go about discovering what the current state of the company is - have they been put in receivership, liquidated, etc etc.

The last thing you want is to sell all this stuff and have another company banging your door down in two years time looking for their stuff back.

Claw Hammer

Does your lease have a forfeiture clause? Is the tenant a company or a partnership or sole trader?

TheDoc

seamus wrote: »

Do a check with the CRO to see if the company has been struck off. I would maybe also speak with an accountant - they should be able to advise you on how to go about discovering what the current state of the company is - have they been put in receivership, liquidated, etc etc.

The last thing you want is to sell all this stuff and have another company banging your door down in two years time looking for their stuff back.

Be some neck on them. Especially considering they havn't paid rent in over a year, and I would imagine the office is abandoned with no staff.

Worked for two years in a "business park" that was essentially a storage unit centre that was a viable option for small business to start off. There was a frequent amount of companies going bang and just leaving.

The guy who ran the place frequently skipped left over equipment to get new people in, and ran the odd time a few auctions on stuff. Not Storage Hunter dramatics, but hed round up equipement and flog it off, trying to recoup rent that wasn't paid to him, which is fair game imo.

dudara

The rules around commercial renting are very different to residential. Probably worth speaking to a solicitor to make sure you're covered under the terms of the lease that you signed.

Praetorian

The equipment looks quite old and I have no real interest in selling it or using it. Due to the business I'm in I have access to any amount of old IT equipment.

Really I'm looking for the legal implications. Why should we pay to get the stuff palletised and stored some where possibly forever. I haven't been able to rent two offices out due to this situation that has gone on and on.

His company appears to be still active in terms of checks on CRO and their number rings, but the guy seemingly just refuses to speak to us. Very bizzare.

the_syco

seamus wrote: »

The last thing you want is to sell all this stuff and have another company banging your door down in two years time looking for their stuff back.

TheDoc wrote: »

Be some neck on them. Especially considering they havn't paid rent in over a year, and I would imagine the office is abandoned with no staff.

Think he was referring to a 3rd party whom the company (that had gone bust) had rented their IT stuff from.

Praetorian wrote: »

His company appears to be still active in terms of checks on CRO and their number rings, but the guy seemingly just refuses to speak to us. Very bizzare.

Sounds like he's trying to avoid people he owes money to.

Talk to a solicitor, tbh.

Also, Google his name, and his companies name for any lawsuits and/or newspaper reports. Check if his website is still online, and see whom it's registered to. Phone number could be another office, or could be his phone number.

TheDriver

Registered letter informing him of what you're going to do?