Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Georgia

I was in default of my commercial lease for non-payment of rent. My Landlord issued me a default letter which demanded payment of deficiency sums w/in 10 days and included the statement "...Otherwise, your lease shall thereupon immediately terminate and legal proceedings to commence possession of the premises, to recover reasonable attorney's fees, court and other rent costs, other monies as specified in the lease; all in connection with your default under the lease."

I was unable to pay and did not within the 10 days (which expired on May 24th 2014). I moved out promptly to avoid legal eviction measures and left the space in an improved condition.

As of June 3rd/4th, my landlord began sending me texts and emails stating that he has found an interested party for my former space and needs me to work with him regarding past due amounts owed as well as deficiency as he plans to sublease to the new tenant.

Logically, I have taken the wording in the default letter to serve as written notification from my former landlord of termination of my lease seeing as how I did not pay the sum being demanded within 10 days. Additionally, he accepted return of keys from me and has commenced to showing the space for re-let.

My question is, has my lease been effectively terminated and can he sue me for the above mentioned if there is no longer a lease in place/

Thank you.

Tiffany R.


Asked on 6/13/14, 8:11 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Glenn M. Lyon, Esq. MacGREGOR LYON, LLC, Business Attorneys

Unless your former landlord sent an additional written notification of his intent to cancel the original notification, the lease terminated on May 24th. However, the landlord would still have a potential claim against you for the early termination. I.e. the landlord terminated the lease due to your default (non-payment).

www.macgregorlyon.com

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Answered on 6/13/14, 8:26 am


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