Commercial Lease with no written lease agreement

My friend's business is on a piece of property that she leases but she has no written lease agreement. It is rumored that someone else has purchased or is very close to purchasing this property. My friend was promised that she would be first to purchase if the property ever came up for sale. She keeps questioning her landlord but he insist that it isn't true. Environmental people have been on the property doing test and the people that are rumored to have bought it were on the property 6 weeks back and they said they were closing in 2 weeks. Still, the landlord insists it is not true. My friend has spent $50,000 of her own money to make the property suitable for her business. She is afraid the new landlord is going to kick her off with 30 days notice and it would take her much more time and money to find a suitable location for her business. What are her rights given that she doesn't have a written lease? Can she insist that the landlord give her the money back that she put into the property?

[OHlandlord]

Commercial property laws are much different than residential LL-Tenant laws, *IF* there are any laws that cover this at all. Many states have *NO* laws that cover commerial rentals. Check your state law for any laws that apply to commercial property. If there are none, your friend has no protection whatsoever. Without any lease, there is nothing to say she has the right to buy the property first. There is nothing to say the LL can't sell the property to whomever she pleases, or to allow your friend to stay in the property if it is sold. The new LL can give her 30 days to vacate the premises.

If there is no agreement, there is no guarantee that she would get any of the improvements back that she has made to the property. She *may* have the right to remove the improvements and leave the property as it was when she rented it. She may be able to restore it to it's original condition (usually in commercial leases this is a normal clause). However, with no lease, the owner may *require* she leave any improvements at the property. (This is normal in residential leases.) I suggest she try to negotiate a lease with the owner now. If the owner doesn't want to write one, she might consider starting to look for a new place.