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small business owner re claim/counter claim w/former landlord on commercial lease

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briela

Guest
small business owner in the state of new mexico who responsibly leased a commercial space in a shopping center for 10 years (2 5yr leases). 5 months before second 5 yr lease was up, it became clear that my landlord's increasing pettiness and personal conflict with myself was going to cause significant problems in negotiating a new lease. i opted to sell my business and entered formal negotiations with viable buyers. several attempts were made by myself, my lawyer, and the new buyers to meet with the landlord to discuss the transaction and possible lease arrangements for the new owners to no avail. as the expiration of my own lease neared, the prospective buyers and myself began to get nervous. they had already made a down payment, purchased equipment; i paid a lawyer $750 for the purchase agreement & was enrolled in training for a career change. at the 11th hour, the landlord offered a lease at 2 times what i had been paying and the buyers bailed. i lost the sale,returned their downpayment, & dropped out of school. I was forced to scramble to relocate my business, resulting in significant loss of revenue, storage, & moving expenses. my intention was to file a complaint against my landlord on these points, but he beat me by filing first against me in small claims court. I have since filed my complaints in the form of a counterclaim. his claims add up to $5,000 and are:
1.) 2 months unpaid rent (he has no case here/i have records of all rent being paid)
2.) unspecified property damages
* though i left the premesis without cleaning well, it was not damaged and i did not collect my cleaning deposit.
3.) water bill of $25/month for 5 yrs
* though there is a water bill clause in my lease, i assumed the $25 was included in my monthly rent as specified in the lease and no action was taken on the part of the landlord to collect a separate check for water for 5 years! as the landlord, didn't he have equal responsibility to inform me of money owed on monthly basis and actively attempt to collect this $ before now? i always paid my rent faithfully and would have paid the $25/month if i had known at the time.
4.) unpaid property taxes for 5 yrs.
* there is a property tax clause in my lease of 4% of landlords total taxes on the commerical property ("payable within 10 days of reciept of bill from landlord"). however, myself and no other tenant was ever informed of or billed for the said taxes until our conflict peaked 2 months before the expiration of my lease. can he hold me accountable for 5 yrs of back taxes if he never charged his other tenants the same or even billed me for 4 yrs./10 months?
i am attempting to both defend and represent myself as i can't afford a lawyer (though he has one). my qusetions are: do i have a case/is my counterclaim viable?
are his claims viable?
i have paid for & requested a jury trial & have a hearing on monday to set a trial date. i would appreciate an opinion on any of the points listed above and/or advice on how best to prepare for both my defense and counterclaim. thank you.


[Edited by briela on 06-22-2001 at 10:57 AM]
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
You have no defense with respect to the CAM charges of water and real property taxes. You already agreed to pay these expenses in your written lease agreement. L did not waive these expenses even if you were not billed. Did you previously ask for the amounts due and owing so that you could pay it? No.
I suggest you negotiate out of court because you will lose in court.
I know there is more to this story. Take a step back and revisit all the evidence. Ask yourself how would a judge or jury look at this case.
You did not pay your prorata share of contracted utlity and real property tax payments and you moved out breaking your lease and leaving the place in a mess. The charge of unpaid rent may be for rent up to the lease expiration date and not the time you were in occupancy and had possession of the premises.
You opted to sell your business. L was not obligated to approve the sale or the new prospective owner. Therefore, L is not responsible for your loss of your Buyer. L could raise the rent to any amount based on a new lease and did not have to rent to the new Buyer at the same rates and terms as reflected in your lease. Therefore L is not responsible for loss of your Buyer if the rent was too high.

In my eyes, you are guilty as charged.

[Edited by HomeGuru on 06-24-2001 at 05:11 PM]
 

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