[pbsltd]

Hi - anyone able to offer some professional (but speedy) advice on a position I'm in?

Long story short - I moved my business into office accommodation in July last year, a shared office building with other companies. The then-manager of the centre resigned from his position and came to work for my company as my office manager, since when the owner of the centre (his previous boss) has been actively causing problems for us. Essentially what he is doing is "to the letter" of the lease agreement, though the rules he is enforcing on us, he does not enforce on other occupants of the centre.

Due to his problems with his former employee (bitterness entirely on his part, and nothing to do with myself or the employee) he has terminated the licence agreement and given us until 27th January to vacate the office (1 month notice as per the agreement).

He holds one month's rent value as a deposit already, and we have said that he can use this to offset the balance owed for January rent, as we have to fork out for the new premises rent and deposit at the same time. We discussed this yesterday with his accountant and the account agreed to it verbally. However this morning have came into the office to find a letter from the landlord stating that the agreement states you cannot use deposit to offset rent, and has asked that the rent in full be paid by noon today.

He is correct in the fact that this is what the licence says - however this has historically never been enforced within the centre and 99% of people who have moved out have used their deposit to pay their last month's rent without any questions being asked (assuming obviously the office isn't in a bad state of repair or has been damaged).

Anyone able to offer any advice as to any way around this? He does state that the deposit will be returned "shortly after" vacating the office, but knowing the way he is acting, he will drag this on for as long as possible.

It goes without saying we will be taking photographs etc of the state of the room before handing back any keys.

[ScottGem]

First its not a good idea to piggyback your question on someone else's. This can lead to confusion. You should start a new thread. So I've moved your question to its own thread.

Whether a lease clause has traditionally been enforced or not, is not going to get you anywhere. The fact is, that the security deposit is for the landlord's protection. ONLY the landlord has the right to decide how to use it. The accountant overstepped his authority in even suggesting that it could be used to offset the last month's rent. In my experience it is actually rare that a landlord would ever allow that, since there is no advantage to them to do so.

So I don't see any way around this. Especially with a commercial lease, this is a cost of doing business and should be accounted for.

The only question I have is it appears he is terminating the lease early. You've only been in there about 6 months. What was the term of the lease? Commercial leases are usually for several years. So what grounds does he have for terminating the lease early?

Finally as an aside, poaching employees from companies you do business with is generally not a good practice. Did you clear it with the landlord before even considering his employee for your position?

One last point. More important than pictures will be a walk through. You need to have a checklist of items that can be signed off by the landlord or a representative.

[Fr_Chuck]

Yes, when he sues you, only the written terms of the lease will be looked at. And the landlord is correct. You will be held liable for any terms for breaking the lease.