Legal Question in Business Law in Pennsylvania

It's not that I don't want to pay to submit this question but my case is "weird" and I'm not sure what category it fits in to. HERE IT GOES..... In April of 2009, I found a club/bar that was renting their space in Philadelphia, PA. It was a 300 person mini nightclub located above a fully operational "corner bar". The mini nightclub on the 2nd floor was owned by the same person who owns the bar downstairs...all under the same (1) license. The nightclub was for rent! I spoke to what I was told was the owner and rented it out for 1 night/event for a set price. This price included the full use of the club however I was allowed to supply & sell my own liquor, beer and non- alcoholic beverages even though I personally do not have a liquor license...the owner said it was ok and covered under the building's license. The event was a success so I made a VERBAL agreement to move forward and become a full time tenant, occupying the space to run events every thursday, friday & saturday, paying the rent at the end of each night/event. I was allowed to bring in all of my own (independantly purchased) liquor, beer and anything else i wanted to sell. He provided storage, freezers etc for the proper running of a nightclub business. I never signed paperwork/contracts or anything else because I wanted to see how I would do running a mini nightclub on my own thinking it was great that I was not locked into anything on paper, just incase business became very slow. It was always verbal and the only thing I have to prove that I rented for approx 16 months are various types of advertising (website, professional printed flyers, pictures), many faithful witnesses/customers that attended the events, pictures, and written receipts (unsigned) for the payments at the end of the event. I rented this club for approx 1 1/2 years. I suddenly found out that the building actually belongs to the guy's wife and his name is on nothing! The wife now comes forward and does not want me to run my events up there. She stated that she found out and wants the upstairs back so that her and her son can run it. So, I established business on the 2nd floor for approx 1 1/2 years, do not owe any money, paid $500 an event which totals over $48,000.00 in their pocket (I'm sure not reported & the liquor was not reported)...all to have the rug pulled out from under me in the matter of 1 day. I know that I was legally wrong for running events and not reporting the money that i made as income but someone just told me that they are not allowed to legally rent out a bar/nightclub to me and allow me to sell liquor/beer that I independantly purchased and supplied, under their license because they have to report the rent as extra income and must account for all liquor sold under their license because i am not independantly licensed. I guess my question is, is there anything legally I can do to get some or all of my rent/money paid since they were never supposed to rent it out to me for i guess an "illegal" operation in the first place? Would it be a complicated battle if I have plenty of witnesses that I ran a business called Sin City there, have written receipts (no signature), professionally printed promotional flyer with the complete address, the location on various advertising websites and plenty of pictures? I need help and feel taken advantage of.


Asked on 9/10/10, 3:17 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cary Hall Law Offices of Cary B. Hall, L.L.C.

On the contrary, everything about your scenario is about "not wanting to pay." You didn't want to be locked into a contract, so you went the per diem route. You didn't want to deal with the (significant) expense of acquiring a liquor license, so you worked a deal in a building with a bar in it. You've admitted that you turned a blind eye to the failure to report the liquor sold by you. You don't want any "strings." That's fine - but you can't very well complain when the jig is up.

If you filed "Sin City" as a fictional name or corporate entity, you could simply change addresses and keep running your club (if you could find a similar deal elsewhere). I'd bet dollars to donuts that this wasn't done (the "cost" thing again). You paid per diem, and now that the day is over, you have no claim to the location. You wanted an "out" if business was slow; the property owner(s) had a similar "out" because no contract was ever signed with you. The owners are now taking the "out." My opinion is that you don't have a leg to stand on. You were not taken advantage of: you paid to rent out their space and that's it. Now they don't want to rent to you anymore. How can you feel taken advantage of?

Bottom line: you get what you pay for. Including, I suppose, this answer. Best of luck to you in the future.

Cary B. Hall, Esquire

Law Offices of Cary B. Hall, L.L.C.

121 East Chestnut Street, Suite 205

Souderton, PA 18964

T: (267) 663-9995

F: (215) 525-4364

[email protected]

http://www.carybhall.com

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Answered on 9/15/10, 6:59 pm


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