Commercial Renter Rights, Help!!!

[SweetP]

What is the name of your state? NY

I am a restaurant owner who has been renting a commercial space from the same LL for 4yrs. Three years ago, my partner & I performed a complete renovation of the space ( rehab'ed a tin ceiling that was covered by a drop ceiling & florescent lights, reran faulty wiring, repainted the whole space, built a seating area, demoed a useless back room & fixed into a workable kitchen, and the list goes on. All said & done $30,000 in renov expenses & $ 40,000 in equiptment. Needless to say the LL was impressed & thrilled w/ our work. We do not have a lease w/LL .
Nov.'07 we decided we were closing the business & let the LL know right away. We said we'd be closing Dec 29 '07. We said we were hoping we could find a tenant for the space that would by the business. LL agreed that would be the best for both of us. Well, LL decides to sign a lease w/ a party before we agree to their offer for the business.Even though we had another party who was ready to give us what were asking for the business. (LL refuses to consider this party for unknown reasons) The 1st party lowballs us on the price of the business. We decide to sell our equiptment to another party who out bids the new tenant by $$$$$. Question: Did the LL have the right to get in the middle of us getting the highest price we could for our business? Do we have the right of ownership over everything we put into his space? Thanks for your help in this matter

[HomeGuru]

[quote=SweetP;1815564]What is the name of your state? NY

I am a restaurant owner who has been renting a commercial space from the same LL for 4yrs. Three years ago, my partner & I performed a complete renovation of the space ( rehab'ed a tin ceiling that was covered by a drop ceiling & florescent lights, reran faulty wiring, repainted the whole space, built a seating area, demoed a useless back room & fixed into a workable kitchen, and the list goes on. All said & done $30,000 in renov expenses & $ 40,000 in equiptment. Needless to say the LL was impressed & thrilled w/ our work. We do not have a lease w/LL .
Nov.'07 we decided we were closing the business & let the LL know right away. We said we'd be closing Dec 29 '07. We said we were hoping we could find a tenant for the space that would by the business. LL agreed that would be the best for both of us. Well, LL decides to sign a lease w/ a party before we agree to their offer for the business.Even though we had another party who was ready to give us what were asking for the business. (LL refuses to consider this party for unknown reasons) The 1st party lowballs us on the price of the business. We decide to sell our equiptment to another party who out bids the new tenant by $$$$$. Question: Did the LL have the right to get in the middle of us getting the highest price we could for our business?

**A: yes since LL must approve the tenant.

******
Do we have the right of ownership over everything we put into his space?


**A: no. Fixtures generally belong to LL.