Sub-lease agreement (California)

[mimille]

I signed a sub-lease agreement for a retail space in April, 2000. In the contract the landlord (the tenant that I am sub-leasing from) explicitly states that he has the legal right to sub-lease the property. The contract was signed, sworn to and notarized.

On October 6, 2000, the owner of the building approached me and told me that although he has been aware of my occupancy and the sub-let for 5 months, he has never directly spoken to my landlord about it and that the sub-let is illegal.

What are my rights if I want to continue my tenancy? And what are my rights if I want to void the contract based on my landlord's breach of contract? My landlord also has a 2 months security deposit that I am very concerned about. If the contract is void based on his fraudulent claim that the owner of the building was aware of and gave consent to the sub-lease, when can I get my security deposit back?

I am located in Los Angeles, California.

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mimille:
I signed a sub-lease agreement for a retail space in April, 2000. In the contract the landlord (the tenant that I am sub-leasing from) explicitly states that he has the legal right to sub-lease the property. The contract was signed, sworn to and notarized.

On October 6, 2000, the owner of the building approached me and told me that although he has been aware of my occupancy and the sub-let for 5 months, he has never directly spoken to my landlord about it and that the sub-let is illegal.

What are my rights if I want to continue my tenancy? And what are my rights if I want to void the contract based on my landlord's breach of contract? My landlord also has a 2 months security deposit that I am very concerned about. If the contract is void based on his fraudulent claim that the owner of the building was aware of and gave consent to the sub-lease, when can I get my security deposit back?

I am located in Los Angeles, California.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You have all rights as a tenant. I do not agree that your landlord breached the contract unless the direct lease agreement stated that T could not sublet period or could not sublet unless L approves in writing. The contract would not be void even if L did not approve in writing because L knew that you were a tenant for 5 months and did nothing. You are entitled to the return of your deposit in accordance wth the L/T laws.

[This message has been edited by HomeGuru (edited October 07, 2000).]

 

[mimille]

Thank you HomewGuru.

What are my rights if I want to re-negoitiate my lease at this point?

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mimille:
Thank you HomewGuru.

What are my rights if I want to re-negoitiate my lease at this point?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You should have a meeting with the landlord and the primary tenant with the goal of cancelling the existing lease and executing a new lease between you and the landlord directly. I hope the primary tenant is not in a sandwich position and is making money on the sublease deal.

 

[mimille]

He is in a sandwich position. And he is making money off the deal. What potential problems does this present if I want to cancel the existing sub-lease agreement and deal with the owner of the building directly?

(Thank you for all your replies thus far)

 

[mimille]

The middle-man shot himself in the foot. Thanks Homeguru for helping me resolve this!

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mimille:
The middle-man shot himself in the foot. Thanks Homeguru for helping me resolve this!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Do you have a new lease directly with the landlord now?

 

[mimille]

we're negotiating. I think that I'll end up paying less rent than I was originally. The owner seems to be a pretty amenable fellow. Any advice along these lines? Is there a free template somewhere that I can use to draft a rental agreement?

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mimille:
we're negotiating. I think that I'll end up paying less rent than I was originally. The owner seems to be a pretty amenable fellow. Any advice along these lines? Is there a free template somewhere that I can use to draft a rental agreement?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My freeadvice it to hire an attorney to review the lease document since this is a commercial lease. It will be well worth the money. There are too many variables to contend with ie. the residential L/T laws do not apply because the commercial property would follow commercial real estate laws, is T responsible for common area maintenance charges such as electric, water, gas, sewer, parking, insurance, property managememt fee, real property taxes, landscaping maintenance, security, marketing and promotion etc., how is the CAM figured out as to prorated share among each tenant, if the rent is charged per sqare foot: what is the SF methodology used to determine the calculation. Would the measurment of the leasable area be calculated from demising walls, interior to interior, from half the inside of the walls, exterior to exterior, following BOMA standards etc., what would be the terms of tenant default, landlord default, what if there needs to be some kind of emergency repair completed such as plumbing, electrical, HVAC etc. whose responsible for payment of the work, who is responsible to repair the air conditioning system etc., would you have a say if a major improvement is planned such as roof repair, building exterior painting ?