As a landlord, if your tenant becomes insolvent and unable to pay their rent it can have a significant impact on your rights. In particular, it can lead to legal difficulties concerning:
- Your ability to recover rent arrears
- Your right to forfeit the lease
- Any possession claim to recover the property
- Dilapidations
Many of these rights are in place to protect your commercial property, and your ability to receive or recover income from that property. Luscombe Gray can explain how your rights are affected and provide legal solutions to help safeguard your business interests.
At Luscombe Gray, we offer practical and effective legal assistance to clients affected by commercial property issues. With our experience and legal knowledge we can achieve the best possible result for your business, whilst keeping the commercial impact to a minimum.
We strongly believe in taking an ethical approach to commercial property disputes, enforcing and protecting your rights, and recognising when conciliation and mediation are best for your business interests.
If you would like to discuss how Luscombe Gray can help your business, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Enforcing your rights against an insolvent tenant
Once a tenant has entered the insolvency process, your rights as a landlord can be altered by various circumstances. The method of insolvency which a commercial tenant uses will also affect your rights. For example, if the tenant goes into administration, the ways in which your rights are restricted will be different from the restrictions caused by the tenant entering into a Company Voluntary Agreement.
Your rights will vary further where your tenant is an individual and has applied for bankruptcy.
It is important to know the exact nature of your rights as a landlord as, if you try to exercise them through incorrect means, it can lead to you waiving some of these rights, such as your right to forfeit.
These examples are all general because this is a very complicated and technical area of law. The correct way forward will be shaped by many different circumstances. This is why it is imperative to seek specialist legal advice from the outset. Luscombe Gray can provide this advice, tailored to your unique situation.
Where at all possible, you may be able to put yourself in a stronger legal position by pre-empting insolvency on your tenant’s part. Keeping a close eye on their business performance and assessing their conduct as a tenant may help you to anticipate a tenant’s insolvency. For example, some indications could be: where your tenant consistently fails to pay their rent on time, or is seeking to assign or sub-let part of the commercial property.
We can advise you on all available courses of action to protect your legal position. If you are concerned about your tenant’s financial fortitude, you may be able to end the lease early, obtain payment from guarantors, or even obtain payment from sub-tenants in some cases.
Instructing Luscombe Gray
Luscombe Gray is a boutique commercial property litigation firm, providing a legal service tailored to the needs of our clients.
We believe first-class commercial legal support should be available to all organisations. Whatever the size of your business, we are more than willing to provide our services and put our specialist skill and knowledge at your disposal.
Your case will be handled by Chris Luscombe personally, so you can be certain that your business will be able to call upon the expertise of an experienced commercial property litigation solicitor. Throughout his career, Chris has helped a wide range of businesses with their commercial property disputes, from small businesses, to national pub companies, to multi-national telecoms giants.
Luscombe Gray is based in the heart of Yorkshire, in Harrogate, with the reach to assist clients across the country.
If your business needs legal support for a dispute affected by your tenant’s insolvency, contact Luscombe Gray for clear, ethical, expert advice.
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