Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Virginia

I have a small market/grocery store in a small strip shopping center (since 2002). The landlords management company would not give me an exclusive (and even said he thought exclusives were illigal in Virginia) saying that permitting competition would not be good for the center and would be unlikely.
Three years ago they let a dollar store open. The dollar store immediatily began cashing payroll checks (a service we offered) and the management company manager vowed to stop him. He asked that we get an customer to sign a form stating they cashed checks there....and we did.
This never ended up doing anything...the mgt company said they landlord was concerned taking to court they would lose - as the definition of a dollar store is vague. This has been going on now for years, and now they dollar store is adding groceries that we sell to steal our customers!
Issue is - I do not have even the check cashing language in my contract either. Though I did have another store in the center 2 yrs ago and did have money services written in to that contract....
Had to close that music store since was losing money to the dollar store cashing checks.
The dollar store has 14 months left on his contract....
What legal actions can I take, if any?! Or do I just tough it out?

Asked on 6/15/10, 5:00 pm

Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

0 users found helpful

0 attorneys agreed

You might want to have an attorney review your commercial lease agreeement

with the management company along with the relevant facts surrounding these

issues, but from what you've described, i would doubt that you have much

(if any) recourse for the situation described.

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

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