SEEKING ADVICE - Landlord Dispute

EntryNumber5

Hi everyone, I'll try and keep this brief and to the point, but I have been having a dispute regarding a commercial property I am renting since late last year, and have just received a solicitor's letter. I am convinced I am in the right and am willing to pursue, but have been trying to avoid it coming to this for the last few months. I'm just looking to find out if it's a fool's errand before paying for my own solicitor.

The unit had been unoccupied (for an undetermined amount of time, as it turns out I was told three different timescales), and the electricity was switched off. Before I moved in, I was told by the estate agents that it could be up to two weeks before it was turned on. I paid my deposit and moved in two weeks later, when I paid the first months rent, making several calls during this time to follow progress on the electricity.
A week and a half after moving in and several unproductive phonecalls later, I was given the MPRN and told I could sort it myself.

There were several issues, including the building not having an up to date certificate and a lack of action and communication led to me missing my entire Christmas season and being closed for 7 weeks unable to even run power tools etc., to prepare the building appropriately for opening.

My losses for this are almost the equivalent of the amount of rent for an entire year. I requested some compensation and was eventually offered two weeks worth off my rent.
There was a constant discussion via email, and I made an offer of 4 months removed or half rent for 7 months.
I received no reply until I was contacted a month and a half later looking for the outstanding rent.

Eventually this led to a meeting with the estate agent, where I was told the landlord would not budge, and I said that their offer of two weeks rent free was simply unacceptable, and the lack of communication had been appalling. I was told that this would go back to the landlord and hopefully there could be a halfway meeting, but again I heard nothing for almost another two months and the time I offered to start paying rent had arrived.
I paid the rent, assuming that as I had paid none previously, I would be making payments as my first offer of 4 months rent free had extended. Two weeks later I received a solicitors letter and a cheque for the rent I paid returned to me. They are not accepting it unless it is accompanied by the full outstanding amount, the figure of which does not even include the original two weeks offered.

This is a brief summary but the main details, I am just unsure about pursuing this any further, as to do so will require a solicitor and probably seeking a larger compensation to deal with the time, cost and additional stresses and issues with their management and lack of communication etc, which is exactly what I had been hoping to avoid.

I'm only a small business so I feel a little out of my depth, if anyone could offer up any advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Sleepy

Unless you have minutes from the meeting twith the estate agent, or any of the above in writing, I'd say you could have a hard time here.

antoinolachtnai

I have to ask:

Do you have a lease?

Do you have an estate agent?

Do you have a solicitor whom you instructed in relation to the lease?

EntryNumber5

I have everything over emails after that first week as I stopped contacting them by phone.

There is a lease, the estate agents I have been dealing with are managing the building on behalf of the landlord and I have just been redirected by them to the landlords solicitor for future dealings since receiving this letter.

I do not have a solicitor but have contacted several and am looking to have a proper discussion with them. I'm just a little out of my depth and looking for any advice I can get while I prepare for the first meeting.

antoinolachtnai

Well, it comes down to whatever is in the lease. Whatever is in the lease is what applies. All the rest of your emails is probably (not absolutely necessarily but probably) just friendly conversation, shooting the breeze.

The lease is the foundation of a business where customers come on-premises to transact, especially a retail business. Not the idea, not the brand, not any of that. The lease is the thing that matters more than anything else.

I did not ask if the landlord has an estate agent. I asked if you had an estate agent. I take it you don't.

You skimped at the beginning. I can understand that. You probably just didn't have the money. But now you are going to have to pay for what you skimped on.

I am sorry if this sounds like a lecture. It is for the benefit of the people who will read this later as much as for you. You have a real mess here. The reason is because you did not do things right at the beginning. You do not know much about property. This is nothing to be ashamed of. It just means you needed the advice of an expert, an estate agent, before you entered the most critical commercial transaction in your business's life. You did not have one.

You do not know much about landlord and tenant law. Again this is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a specialised field. However, you needed a solicitor to advise you before you took on the most expensive and critical commercial deal of your business's lifetime. You did not have one.

Again, I hate to sound like a lecturer, but big brands do not engage estate agents and solicitors and surveys and all the rest of it because they like to talk to men in suits and to visit swanky offices. They have them because they are critically dependent on their knowledge and expertise.

Not having professional advice has already cost you thousands of euros. No decent solicitor would let you take over a premises with the electricity turned off or certainly without explaining to you that getting the electricity connected was your responsibility, not the landlord's. They would also make enquiries about the certificates. No decent estate agent would advise you to go into a premises that was in such a poor state without you realising it, nor would not let you proceed as far as you have without having some sort of certainty of your position.

The landlord is just that. They are not some a hotel or car rental firm or sort of customer service organisation. It is not their job to manage anything. It is not their job to communicate with you or help you solve your problems. They have already substantially fulfilled their side of the deal just by giving you the keys to their property. They have been lenient in relation to the rent. Just because you have problems doesn't mean that they should have to pay for it.

Please, get a solicitor and sort this out urgently. Do not expect to win much here. You have left yourself in a very weak position and the worst case is really bad for you. You are in breach of the lease and lack legal representation. The landlord may well be within his rights to turf you out tomorrow and replace you with one of your competitors who will be happy to take over the premises and the goodwill you have built up. Without legal representation to go to court and get an injunction you probably wouldn't be able to do anything about it.


I am sorry to sound so tough. But that's how business is.

EntryNumber5

Unfortunately that is what I was afraid of. I am waiting to meet solicitors and while I understand all the details aren't present I'm not looking to be told I'm right anyway and appreciate the honest response.

Thank you for the advice, I'm waiting to meet solicitors now to go through everything in minute detail and see where that goes, but I understand it may not be worth the chase.

Cheers again!

antoinolachtnai

Don't be too despondent. You are going to very likely end up not getting what you want here. But there is no need to get down about it. You saved some money at the beginning when your cash was probably very limited. You will probably end up paying that saving back with interest now, but small businesses take credit where they can find it, don't be too upset about that.

It is a good opportunity to regularise your relationship with your landlord and get a grip on the situation for once and for all. I would definitely get a solicitor or estate agent or somebody to deal with this now, to show you are engaging seriously and to show you mean business. If your business is going well, it may even be an opportunity to negotiate for a longer lease with better terms.

(By the way, there is a good possibility that this has all happened because your landlord's agent is a chump. But that is really your problem, not the landlord's. Now you are going to have to pay all these people to sort this out. But that's just the way it goes. I know a pretty famous small business in Dublin whose freehold recently changed hands in a big transaction. The old agent was a chump and the new agent is even worse. This is a terrible hassle, but the tenant will end up getting his way because he knows what he is doing and he has the professional advice he needs. He may well end up owning the building but he will certainly still be there when the agent is gone and maybe even long after the landlord is gone. All this stuff goes on all the time.)

_Brian

Could you not have ran the power tools of a wee genny and moved things along rather than sitting back.
Particularly if the period was worth so much revenue.

davo10

_Brian wrote: »

Could you not have ran the power tools of a wee genny and moved things along rather than sitting back.
Particularly if the period was worth so much revenue.

I was wondering this myself. A quick call to ESB networks with the existing MPRN number on the meter would have confirmed when the electric was cut off and it takes about 2 mins to fill out the reconnection form on line. You get a text from ESB with job number and a phone number to call for enquiry. It costs €80 for a new fuse to be put in on a property disconnect over 2 years ago but you do need an electrician to certify the wiring. Gennies are used all the time by contractors until ESB is switched on.