What if your commercial landlord locks you out of your business, does this cancel the lease and any contract for purchases?
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What if your commercial landlord locks you out of your business, does this cancel the lease and any contract for purchases?
Our landlord closed our business. He was the previous owner whom we have a
contract for purchase with. We told him we may not be able to make his rent
payment this month because we have a lot of other business expenses coming up.
He closed our business down. He has changed the locks on the business so we do
not have access. Does this break the contract for purchase?
Asked on June 3, 2019 under Real Estate Law, Montana
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 4 years ago | Contributor
Yes, it terminates the contract if you want it to. The landlord has violated the agreement by depriving you of possession before you breached (i.e. before you failed to pay rent when due; he cannot use your warning that you may not be able to pay due to financial issues as grounds to lock you out, since you still might have paid on time) and without following the proper procedures for a lockout. This material, or important, breach by the landlord would entitle you to treat the contract as terminated if you choose.
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