Consumer Law, Warranties Landlord rights for commercial building

[cern7081]

I will try to give as much information as I can. My wife's aunt is the landlord of the building and asked me to find a forum to get some help

She is the sole owner of a commercial building. Some kids rented from her a part of the building for wheels/tires. She said the RE agent rushed into the agreement and she signed to lease it. He got a chunk she said $7900! In less than 30 days (3yr lease) they have added a wall (without permission) and the city cited them (well her) and now she is dealing with this, she came by with the city for the citation. Now the tentants told her they lost money and want some deducted from their lease because people would come into their place of business because she was there. lol I am a business owner as well. This is a joke. Then she (aunt) found out one of the tentants on the agreementis a minor (aunt was told all were adults on the agreement)! Now that person's mom wrote the aunt requesting she give them free rent to help them out and telling her she isn't a good landlord if she doesn't do it. The nerve of people. The city all in all gave her five citations all were the cause of the tentants. Aunt has requested from the RE agent all the applicants to confirm they are all over 18yrs and she was denied do to privacy of the tentants.

Question? Can she get out of the lease because of the city voilations the tentants have caused without written consent (it is in the lease agreement). Also, her other question is about the minor. Can she also cancel due to a minor on the lease and she was never told this?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Michael Wechsler]

1) The owner should probably get the commission back from the Real Estate agent. Problems like these are supposed to be avoided by using someone with experience.

2) The minor being on the lease isn't an issue if the minor is current. The problem is that agreements with minors are usually voidable ONLY by the minor. However here there are numerous ways the landlord can terminate the lease - if the RE agent provided an appropriate contract, a violation of law is a material breach of the lease agreement and she can also sue the tenants for the damages.

DO NOT do anything without an experienced lawyer or legal professional doing a review of all the facts and the lease itself. I'm just giving you general thoughts from what you've told me. Best of luck!