Re: Landlord wants 19 mo. back rent HELP!
Mike, PAY YOUR RENT! How could you not know you are 19 months behind in rent?!?!!! ("Some how i got 19 mo. behind") Are you joking? You obviously knew that you owed rent each month and were not paying it. You knew that the debt was just increasing. Why didn't you move out on your own when you figured out that you would be unable to pay? Why didn't you tell him that you couldn't make rent payments and sign a short term agreement to abate payments until the business picked up? Why didn't you sign a payment arrangement to make smaller rent payments to him for a short time then get caught up? Why in the world would you have ignored this for so long and then put the blame on the LL for wanting his back rent that you have owed him??? "sounds like a good way to rent let the poor guy run up the rent then sue for $8075.00" Sounds to me like a good way to rent to me too. Deadbeat tenant stays rent free for 19 months then complains when the poor LL finally asks you to pay for the office you used for free for over a year and a half! This is a troll post, right?
OK, my audacity meter has gone down now. Let's look at this from a legal perspective. Assuming that this is a real post...
First, the rental protections afforded under LL-Tenant laws do NOT apply to commercial rentals. Unless there are commercial rental laws in MI (I couldn't find them if there are any, most states don't have these), you have no protection at all. Whatever your lease says is the rule. So you owe the rent.
The LL can pursue you for all the back rent you owe, any late fees that are listed in the lease, and in some states (especially if provided for as in most commercial leases) can lock and seize your office's assets to pay off your debt. There are many instances of a LL legally padlocking the commercial property and selling off the tenant's belongings to get the back rent. Rarely has a tenant been allowed to retrieve so much as a file from the rented space. (You should see the problems this has created when a tax office goes under - all those peole's tax returns locked in and no one can get at them!) So if your stuff is still in there, you'd better get it out NOW! Your state law only allows you $1000 worth of business assets to be excluded from garnishment or seizure.
Expect to have a civil or small claims court case filed against you. Especially if you signed the lease as yourself instead of as a business entity. (Probably will be heard in civil court because this is waaay over the small claims limit there.) You will have a monetary judgement against you. It will show up on your credit report. They will lien your personal property (house, maybe cars), will attach your bank accounts, and will garnish your wages (up to 25% a paycheck). The LL will likely ask for interest until this debt is paid off and will get it. Your credit score is going to plummet. You will be denied loans. Your credit card interest rates may jump because you will now be listed in default on a debt.
This wasn't a very smart thing for you to do. The LL no doubt held off so long hoping your business would pick up and you'd start paying. He no doubt didn't want another vacancy. But looks like he got one anyways. And you get the bill. I suggest you make a payment arrangement with the LL to avoid trashing your credit and garnishment, and avoid a court record.
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