Notification Of Exercizing Option On Lease?
After not notifying my land lord in writing that i would be exercising my 5 year option in a timely manner, he cancelled my lease and put me on a month to month. I notified him verbally and he knew I wanted to extend as I own a successful liquor store where lacation is important. I never had a problem with him and being young, I was foolish and never received a confirmation, or demanded one. My question is should I have an attorney send notice explaining he was informed? Should I try to work with him for a new lease? If I battle with him the consequences are that he may give me notice to vacate. My store has a fair market value of 350k with a reasonable lease, plus 100k inventory. It is worthless without a lease. Thanks for any knowlegeable response.
When you say your 5 year option, do you mean the option to purchase the property?
In real estate all contracts to purchase etc. have to be in writing by law regardless of what state you live in. If you want to buy I would tell the owner "I want to buy" and go from there. If it is merely to extend the lease then I would contact a lawyer and see what options he suggests.
Luck!
If the channels of communication are still open between you two then I would talk to him and tell him you are sending over the documentation from your lawyer. It is cheaper to play nice with him. I look at it this way, he did what he was supposed to legally since you didnt renew your option. He didnt kick you out, so you still have a chance. If you have the cash to do it you may want to send the new lease paperwork over with a letter stating you will pay in advance a certain amount of months if he signs the new one. It will help with negotiations and you may be able to get cheaper rent if you can pay in 6 month or annual increments for the first year ahead of schedule. Whatever you do dont wait ,do it now, if he has alterior motives you will need to know as soon as possible for relocation plans.
Good Luck,
Kyle
Thank you kyle, I am going to get right on it. I left him a messagesince his paperwork said to call if I had any questions at all. Interestingly he has not returned my call. I giving it the rest of the weekend and will call again on Monday. If I do not like what I hear I will have to bite the bullet and retain an attorney.
If I was not clear to others, I had a ten year lease with a 5 year option, and did not formally exercise. My land lord is a bit of a control freak, and probably just preferrs month to month. But, that prevents me from just about everything.
Any other thoughts are appreciated.