Can they do this?

heyboots

oh look - this seems to answer it quite clearly http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2010/04/27/landlord-rights-over-tenants-possessions/

I would def call the police.

iolanthe07

heyboots wrote: »

oh look - this seems to answer it quite clearly http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2010/04/27/landlord-rights-over-tenants-possessions/

I would def call the police.

Yes, but are you sure the advice you've linked to covers commercial leases? It looks as if it is advice concerning domestic property rather than busioness property. OP needs to take legal advice.

poppasmurf_bewdley

jefferylea wrote: »

The next months rent is not applicable, as she has forfeited the lease by locking me out.

Reading what you have written, it would seem that it is you that has forfeited the lease by not paying the rent.

Read what it says in your lease. I would be surprised if you are not liable for the balance of rent for the remaining lease period.

And has been said by others, your deposit is to cover damage, etc, which you may cause. It's not to pay a months rent if you default.

ashleypride

jefferylea wrote: »

I told her the position I was in, and if we could come to some agreement.

There no agreement to come to, you agreed when you signed the lease. You may be in trouble financially but that isn't her problem.

jefferylea wrote: »

No reply for days then an abrupt message back, reminding me I was 2 weeks late for rent.

Are you two weeks late paying the rent? If so, you have breached the contract. You still owe the full amount on the lease you signed, or damages for the breach.

ashleypride

jefferylea wrote: »

The next months rent is not applicable, as she has forfeited the lease by locking me out.

No, from what you have said you have breached the contract, and don't really have a leg to stand on.

jefferylea wrote: »

Its not that I dont want to pay what I owe the problem is she is lying about the amount trying to hold me ransom.

No, it sounds like she has offered you to pay 2 x months rent and she will terminate the contract - and not hold to you for the remainder of what you owe.

jefferylea wrote: »

She has not said she will give me my belongings back.

You haven't paid the rent, so she's changed the locks. You pay her damages (which seem reasonable in the current climate) and you get your goods back, if she is intending to permanently deprive you of goods that would be theft.

PasturesNew

Commercial rents are a completely different kettle of fish to residential rents - and the LLs have a lot more power to exercise.

I hope you get your stuff back, but you really need to pay off all arrears and then keep that rent paid right to the very end, on time.

DeltaWing

jefferylea wrote: »

Hi heyboots, no I am a graphic artist and the shoot was part of a future marketing campaign.

Everything I need is basically on the imac, and I have got my slr and lenses etc. I had to start basic, as I graduated into no opertunities. I already had freelance clients, so thought it was the right route.

First off, regarding your position, I agree with the other posters that it is you who has breached the contract, not the landlady (and hopefully you now understand what a deposit is, and is not, for).

For someone who is trying to run a business, though, this post is also quite alarming - everything you need is on one computer? So, so very wrong.

External hard drives are cheap; online cloud storage even more so. Dropbox/Sugarsync/YouSendIt/SkyDrive are all free for their basic accounts, or for a more complete backup system look into CrashPlan.

Pay what you owe - if she's offering you a two month payment to terminate the lease take it, since you clearly can't afford a 12-month commitment, then move on. But whatever you do, please, get a backup strategy sorted.

jefferylea

ashleypride wrote: »

There no agreement to come to, you agreed when you signed the lease. You may be in trouble financially but that isn't her problem.



Are you two weeks late paying the rent? If so, you have breached the contract. You still owe the full amount on the lease you signed, or damages for the breach.

When the lease was signed, she said if I had any problems tell her and we can sort them out (rent holiday etc). Should I have just said nothing, and ignored her? I cant changethat my business couldnt keep up with its overheads, on paper it all looked sound so I was advised to go for it.

The reason I was 2 weeks late is I was trying to get hold of her.

ashleypride wrote: »

No, from what you have said you have breached the contract, and don't really have a leg to stand on.



No, it sounds like she has offered you to pay 2 x months rent and she will terminate the contract - and not hold to you for the remainder of what you owe.

You haven't paid the rent, so she's changed the locks. You pay her damages (which seem reasonable in the current climate) and you get your goods back, if she is intending to permanently deprive you of goods that would be theft.

A solicitor has told me once the locks have changed the lease is broken perm. I am no longer held to 12 months as, its a last resort. She is intending to sell my belongings, inc my friends.

DeltaWing wrote: »

First off, regarding your position, I agree with the other posters that it is you who has breached the contract, not the landlady (and hopefully you now understand what a deposit is, and is not, for).

For someone who is trying to run a business, though, this post is also quite alarming - everything you need is on one computer? So, so very wrong.

External hard drives are cheap; online cloud storage even more so. Dropbox/Sugarsync/YouSendIt/SkyDrive are all free for their basic accounts, or for a more complete backup system look into CrashPlan.

Pay what you owe - if she's offering you a two month payment to terminate the lease take it, since you clearly can't afford a 12-month commitment, then move on. But whatever you do, please, get a backup strategy sorted.

Everything is not on the one computer, I have online aswell as hard copies of all work. But without the specialist software, I can not work.

DeltaWing

What software are you using- surely you have backups of the install media, or can just download it again? All you probably need is the install key. Backups aren't just for files- again, if this is your business you need a bootable clone of your system drive for exactly this sort of reason.

Once you've got yourself sorted, check out Carbon Copy Cloner, and make sure you have copies of all installs for whatever software you need. Hard disks fail, computers get nicked, you have to be prepared to start from scratch when you least expect it; it's the only way to ensure you'll never need to!

jefferylea

its the full adobe creative suite, locked in my office draw unfort. I will look at that thank you, I didnt realise you could do that with none pc systems.