Rental and lease agreements between businesses are a common fact of business life, both in North Carolina and throughout the country. They often are the subject of business litigation arising from differing interpretations of the contractual terms. Often a lessee business must be evicted by the landlord business entity, but the eviction will sometimes be met with claims of breach of the landlord’s duties to the tenant.
In that context, business litigation concerning leases and rental defaults can involve every type of business imaginable, from high rent office suites and retail mall spaces, down to low-rent storage space and everything in between. In one recent case in another state, a limited-membership social and business club was evicted for the alleged failure to pay $23,000 in rent. The members of the club were supposedly paying from $5,000 to $25,000 annually for membership.
Each state has a different, but often similar, procedure for evictions. Additionally, certain consumer protections that exist with respect to residential leases may not exist in connection with business rentals. In all instances, the state laws and procedures must be consulted to know precisely how an eviction and business rental disputes will be handled. In this case, the tenant filed a claim of its own in which it asserts that the landlord failed to provide heat, ventilation and air conditions and maintain the outside premises as promised.
The club also claims in a counter suit that the landlord defamed the club in public. For whatever reason, it appears that the club may have gone out of business but that has not been confirmed. Reportedly, a prior business tenant was also in a dispute with the landlord over rent payments, and the same claim that utilities were not supplied was made. With respect to the law and procedures required under North Carolina law, each side in such a dispute will be best served by having an experienced business litigation attorney handling its side of the case.
Source: therepublic.com, “Williston limited-membership business club evicted over failed rent payment; club files suit“, Dec. 27, 2014