Legal Question in Business Law in Pennsylvania

I run a small restaurant out of a leased part of a building. The landlord is in a property dispute with the owners of the building next to ours. We were told the side of the building where our dumpster and our parking is located was theirs now I am told it is not and we have no place to put our dumpster, the parking in front of the building is very congested. I had to call the owners of the building next door to find out that there was a judges order to remove everything from the property as of three weeks ago, we were never informed by the landlord. The landlord has hurt our business to the point we are losing money daily. Can I hold them liable for my failed business and all the expenses I will incur to close down? I have invested all of my saving into this business, the landlord told someone when we close he will open his own business in there so I think he is trying to force us out.


Asked on 12/05/11, 8:40 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Sharmil McKee McKee Law Office

It's not clear to me an inaccessible dumpster has caused your business to fail. However, my best advice is to take your lease to an attorney. If the landlord's actions or inactions have caused you to lose money, then you may be entitled to some monetary relief. Of course, you will need to be able to prove that prior to the landlord's actions, your business earned $X in revenue and after the landlord's actions, your business only earned $Y in revenue.

I also suggest that you hire an attorney to protect your interests in this property dispute between the other owner and your landlord. Since the outcome of this dispute impacts you, you have an interests in the dispute and the judge will hear your side of the story.

Good luck.

Sharmil McKee

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Answered on 12/05/11, 1:28 pm


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