commercial lease - offering lower rent

juehankie

Annisele wrote: »

I don't think that's fair. You may not like what RabbitMad said, but I don't think he's wrong.

The cancer is obviously not your fault - but equally it's not your landlord's fault. You were in a much better position to insure yourself than he was. You took a commercial decision not to take out Key Man insurance (it's not compulsory) and very unfortunately for you you got stung by that decision.

I suspect the £70k RabbitMad is talking about is this one - we don't know whose £70k it is because your original post has gone, but I can see why he thinks you might have some money.

You might be better off posting on the "small biz and charity" board. I'm not clear whether your business is a limited company/partnership/sole trader, and the advice might be different in different circumstances.

One thing you do need to make sure is that you're not trading whilst insolvent - take advice from your accountant if you need to.

ive never heard of key man insurance - how would this have helped us? i dont see the relevance of where the investment is- i stated we have no assets.

Annisele

Wikipedia is a bit more politically correct than I was, but you can find out about Key Person insurance here. Basically if you have somebody who is key to your business, it's possible for the business to take out insurance against something happening so that the key person can't do their job. So, in your case, if a key person couldn't work due to cancer insurance might have paid for you to hire a replacement, or it might have replaced some of your lost profits.

I think you need to work out whether your business is viable - I worry that if you're spending £12k on bills but only £1k of that is rent, then you might have other costs that are going to take it down regardless of what your landlord says.

I still think this would be better over on the small biz board; they can be forthright over there but also very helpful!

RabbitMad

juehankie wrote: »

ive never heard of key man insurance - how would this have helped us? i dont see the relevance of where the investment is- i stated we have no assets.

Its very relevant as for your LL to agree to a 50% reduction in rent he has to believe you have no assets.

It looks to me like you do have assets. You had £70K ish so where has it gone? Why have you edited the post thats two years old on 21/09 to delete all information? Why do you say " dont see the relevance of where the investment is" To me this sounds like you still have this investment somewhere, perhaps in a childs name etc.

If you end up being made bankrupt the offical receiver can undo any transactions that you've entered into that were not on commercial terms in the last 6 years. So if you've gifted it to your Kids or put it in trust for them the money is recoiverable to pay your creditors.

An example of this was where a woman was given the family home where she lived with the children. The Ex hubby went on a spending spree and several years after the divorce was finalised was made bankrupt. The lady lost the house as it was taken to pay for the debts that the EX ran up AFTER he was divorced from her.

pararct

All the fluff above aside yes if the LL has any sense then he should look to reduce the rent or grant some period of amnesty.

Much will depend on the actual circumstances and the area you are in. For example will the LL be able to rent out the space again quite easily? How much other empty commercial property is there around you?

Where I live some LL are giving several Months rent free as an incentive to get new tenants into properties and most of it is still not shifting. Some of it has been empty for the 5 or so years I have lived around here.

You should be aware that many who post here are landlords themselves and will structure their answers from that point of view. If you have do have assets then look to see if they can be protected by registering your Company as Limited Liability, this step though would have to be compared to what term is left on the lease and will have a cost attached to it. If you have none then don't worry as blood cannot be squeezed from a stone.

Speak to your landlord and see what they say. A smart one may have some flexibility and be prepared to negotiate in line with the local circumstances. A not so smart one will threaten you with court action, bankruptcy and all the rest of the pa lava and will probably end up poorer at the end of the day.

juehankie

pararct wrote: »

All the fluff above aside yes if the LL has any sense then he should look to reduce the rent or grant some period of amnesty.

Much will depend on the actual circumstances and the area you are in. For example will the LL be able to rent out the space again quite easily? How much other empty commercial property is there around you?

Where I live some LL are giving several Months rent free as an incentive to get new tenants into properties and most of it is still not shifting. Some of it has been empty for the 5 or so years I have lived around here.

You should be aware that many who post here are landlords themselves and will structure their answers from that point of view. If you have do have assets then look to see if they can be protected by registering your Company as Limited Liability, this step though would have to be compared to what term is left on the lease and will have a cost attached to it. If you have none then don't worry as blood cannot be squeezed from a stone.

Speak to your landlord and see what they say. A smart one may have some flexibility and be prepared to negotiate in line with the local circumstances. A not so smart one will threaten you with court action, bankruptcy and all the rest of the pa lava and will probably end up poorer at the end of the day.

thanks - our £70k investment was to buy the goodwill and fixture and fittings in this business - so WE HAVE NO assests. apart from this, nothing hidden or in a childs name...the landlord has agreed to a termination with no financial requests from us . the property will be empty, he has allowed to remove all fixtures n fittings but has given us 24 hours notice - dont suppose we will get the deposit back?.lol...any thoughts?...

juehankie

RabbitMad wrote: »

Its very relevant as for your LL to agree to a 50% reduction in rent he has to believe you have no assets.

It looks to me like you do have assets. You had £70K ish so where has it gone? Why have you edited the post thats two years old on 21/09 to delete all information? Why do you say " dont see the relevance of where the investment is" To me this sounds like you still have this investment somewhere, perhaps in a childs name etc.

If you end up being made bankrupt the offical receiver can undo any transactions that you've entered into that were not on commercial terms in the last 6 years. So if you've gifted it to your Kids or put it in trust for them the money is recoiverable to pay your creditors.

An example of this was where a woman was given the family home where she lived with the children. The Ex hubby went on a spending spree and several years after the divorce was finalised was made bankrupt. The lady lost the house as it was taken to pay for the debts that the EX ran up AFTER he was divorced from her.

you always insinuate im lying...i told you we dont have anything...:j

juehankie

darkpool wrote: »

to be fair that post is over two years old. i think the OP said this money was invested in his business

thank you..!! you get it...:beer: