Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Maryland

9 months ago we took over a restaurant from an individual who was running the restaurant before us. We rented the building from the landlord, we bought the equipment in the restaurant with a contract from the individual who was running the restaurant before us. We input payment plan clearly in the contract for the equipment and we have been paying regularly up until now. the landlord of the building bought it from another person a few years ago, including the equipment, with a mortgage plan. She failed to pay her mortgage, and the first owner got the building and equipment back with a court order; however, the second owner already sold the equipment to the individual who was running the restaurant before us, and that individual sold the same equipment to us with the contract. Now, the first owner claims that the building with all the equipment belong to him although we have been paying for the equipment to the other guy. The first owner tried to do a leasing contract with us for the building only, we didn't accept it, and now we are moving to another location, but he doesn't let us take the equipment out of the store, saying that he solely owns the equipment; however, we have been paying for the same equipment to someone else with a contract. How can we get the equipment we have been paying for under a contract? Who do we need to sue to get it done? Do we have any other options? None of the parties want to negotiate. By the way, the second owner has runaway...No clue where she is...


Asked on 8/30/10, 10:17 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Phillip M. Cook Cook Legal Services, LLC

It's a shame you don't know where the second owner is, because she is going to be the person you need to sue. In all likelihood, there was a UCC filing on the equipment when she leased/sold it to you. If an attorney had represented you throughout the deal where you signed the original contract, he/she likely would have checked to make sure this situation wouldn't happen. Looking forward, you should hire a Maryland commercial litigator immediately. You will likely have little to no recourse in terms of keeping the equipment or against the original owner of the property (it's his after all!), but you can probably sue the second landlord to recover the payments you previously made on the equipment. Don't make the same mistake on your new property -- get a lawyer to review your lease and any contracts you sign BEFORE you sign them.

Best of luck.******The above is intended for informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client privilege.********

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Answered on 9/04/10, 10:28 am


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