New Member Business Problem..

[rob1973]

Hello Guys first posting wish it could be a better topic....

Been looking through the posts and there clearly are some intelligent like minded people on here. I have a serious problem I need help with.

I run a small recruiment company in London and we have fallen behind with our rent (we are in a serviced office) due to the slow payment of a couple of our clients. This is being resolved but it has crippled my cash flow. As a result it will be around 2 weeks before I can settle the rental arrears, he is threatening to deny access to the building and evict immediately, can he do this? Anyone any ideas on what to say to them?

[M@H]

Hi,

It depends entirely on your rental agreement.. what does the contract you signed say..?

All sounds plausible to me though I'm afraid..

Cheers,
Matt.

[dick dastardly]

Show the landlord proof that you've got miney coming your way and if needs be tell him you are willing to pay a little extra as a sign of goodwill

If he's a prick remind him about the money he will lose in the months the offices are empty after you move out and he has to find new tenants

[Rob1973]

Cheers Guys much appreciated,

There is a clause saying so, just wondered if it was enforcable. We have both breached the terms and conditions of the contracts, they have been late with invoices, which has delayed payments.
What makes it worse of course is that the guy is a bit of a weasel

[Davel]

I run a company of Industrial & Commercial Property Owners. We rent out offices, some houses and warehouses.

As long as someone is straight with us and explains that they have a problem and keeps us updated, then we tend to try to live with the problem a while. It's far better to do that than try to evict a tenant and then advertise for a replacement etc. Who needs the aggro?

[mondeoman]

Davel said:

I run a company of Industrial & Commercial Property Owners. We rent out offices, some houses and warehouses. As long as someone is straight with us and explains that they have a problem and keeps us updated, then we tend to try to live with the problem a while. It's far better to do that than try to evict a tenant and then advertise for a replacement etc. Who needs the aggro?

I'd agree with that - as long as you've been up-front with him and told him what the problem is and can show that you DO have the cash on the way to you, he "should" be a bit more lenient.

ATEOTD, an empty office isn't going to generate him any cash, and if he's been late with invoices, then thats his problem - you don't pay what you don't owe, and an invoice is "really" the only thing he can use to demand money from you .... (AFAIK)

[Rob1973]

Davel,

Thanks have been honest and thrown myself on the mercy of the landlord, humiliating but at least I still have a roof for now. He did wince however when it was pointed out that it has been 3 months since someone has been round for a look at the empty space.

Good advice one and all. may the next posting be about buying back my TVR!!

Many thanks
Rob

Also what a great site, unlikely to get anything else done today!

[Davel]

Glad to help.

I'm lucky because we really tend to get on very well with our tenants and enjoy a pretty good relationship with most of them.

We're based on our busiest site and we see many of them daily.

Distant landlords can be harder to get on with, as they often don't see your problems and take ages to deal with issues.

At the end of the day -you're the customer and it's often easier to lose tenants than find good ones!