Industrial Rent not Paid - Can the Landlord keep my equipment?

A friend of mine has been renting a unit in an industrial building in Chicago. He had plans to turn it into a multi media production company, but it never materialized We had partially built a recording studio and some of MY production equipment was there as part of some work we did.

He's since been way behind on rent. So far behind, the landlord locked him out of the building. Now the landlord won 't let us back in to get the equipment, MY equipment, until he pays the rent. My friend even told him that he wanted to get in the unit to get some of HIS equipment, so that he can sell it and use the money to pay the landlord back.

According to my friend, the landlord has now rented the unit to someone else and has removed the equipment and stored it in another location in the building.

They had no written lease. It was a verbal month to month agreement.

Does the landlord have the right to withhold the items in the unit?
Does he have the right to sell them to recoop the rent?
Can I make any claim on MY items? I have no documentation that says they are mine.

I"ve been trying to get between my (ahem) friend, and the landlord, but now I think I should. My guess is he has no legal right to withhold the equipment. However, me friend nor I have the $$ or time to hire a lawyer. I move out of the country in two weeks and need the equipment. I figure I can "threaten" the landlord with getting a lawyer IF my hunch is correct.

All I want or those items. My firends problems with the landlord are his to deal with.

HELP!

THANKS

You are in trouble, my friend. Your hunch is not correct. Your friend rented a *commercial* space, not a residential one. There are few, if any laws at all, to protect commercial tenants. Residential LL-Tenant laws DO NOT APPLY to you. You have few protections.

Your first order of business is to see if there are any commercial rental laws in the area where this property is. Check the law statutes for anything that applies to commercial rentals. It will be in a different section of the law than the residential LL-Tenant laws normally quoted here. A word of warning - very few places have any commercial laws. You may find nothing. The US commercial rental law is ruled by a free marketplace. Whatever you agreed to in your lease agreement is the law for commercial rentals in most states. Since your friend signed no lease and did everything verbally (not a good idea!!!), you have no protection whatsoever.

Most commercial leases have a clause that allows the LL to lock out a commercial tenant who does not pay. They don't have to evict them like a residential tenant. It is common to lock out the commercial tenant and seize his belongings to pay for the back rent owed. Belongings are typically stored for 30 days to allow the tenant time to pay, then sold at auction to pay the LL for the rent owed. The tenant is usually sued for the rest in court. You may have just lost your recording equipment. This happens all the time - just look at any auctioneer's site - you'll see business equipment offered each week. These are nearly all from businesses that folded.

Look for any commercial laws you can find. Then you may approach the LL about retrieving your equipment. Don't plan on him being cooperative though. Your best approach is to let him know you are also a "creditor" whose equipment was used by the tenant and not returned. (If the equipment is not returned, you too will have a claim against the tenant.) You will have to provide proof that the equipment is yours though in order to get it back. If you have no proof...

A lawyer would only be able to file a claim against the tenant's business or any proceeds from the sales in excess of the rent owed. (The LL is first in line for debts owed. If you file a claim, you are second. So you are only paid if his debt is paid first - like a second mortgage.) You could offer him a small amount to obtain just your equipment. Sorry I don't have a better answer. You could sue the friend for the loss of your equipment.