Can I legally pursue commercial tenants?

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Yellow Belly

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I have a bar/restuarant leased to 2 guys since last April. They are currently €15k behind in rent, and have another 4 years left of the lease.

Can I evict them for non payment of rent? Can I pursue them for the remaining 4 years rents which they should have been paying?
 
Under normal lease terms you should be able to get them out. There is a mechanism where you are able to enter the property and change the locks, thereby denying them access to the property. You will then have to bring them to Court for the outstanding arrears. Why did you leave it so long ?? Don't see much hope or chance of getting the 4 years rent from them, especially when you can't get the money when they were in there. Contact yur solicitor ASAP, concerning getting a locksmith to travel with you, literally in the middle of the night. And make sure you advise the Local Gardai of your intentions before you get done for breakig and entering.
 
mercman said:
Under normal lease terms you should be able to get them out. There is a mechanism where you are able to enter the property and change the locks, thereby denying them access to the property. You will then have to bring them to Court for the outstanding arrears. Why did you leave it so long ?? Don't see much hope or chance of getting the 4 years rent from them, especially when you can't get the money when they were in there. Contact yur solicitor ASAP, concerning getting a locksmith to travel with you, literally in the middle of the night. And make sure you advise the Local Gardai of your intentions before you get done for breakig and entering.
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I really really really really would not advise this course of action without a very careful analysis of the terms of the Lease. The Landlord may very well need a Court Order to obtain possession. They may even be able to negotiate voluntary vacating. It is not necessarily at all the proper course of action to Gung Ho march in and recover possession.

There is far too much emphasis IMO by some posters on this Board in (a) Taking the law into their own hands and (b) by-passing all normal procedures.

OP should see his own solicitor as a matter of urgency to see what remedies are available.

mf
 
mf1 - I am not doubting the main point you have made in your post. However, I would like to clarify that I did not suggest that the OP should break the law to suit his own means. I have already mentioned that I do not know the terms of the lease and for the OP's solicitor to be contacted ASAP. Concerning your emphasis of not entering 'Gung Ho' into a premises to gain possession, it this falls within the landlord's rights what else would you suggest ? This has been done previously on the Instruction of my own solicitors (who are one of the largest firms in the country). As aready mentioned it depends on the terms of the lease. Sometimes this type of action falls under the heading of 'normal procedure', but the final choice remains that of the landlord, after he has obtained secure professional legal opinion.
 
There is a procedure called Forfeiture. Notice must be served. Re-entry may be effected if it can be done peaceably. Or by agreement.

The landlord cannot use force - that is a criminal offence
If re-entry cannot be effected peaceably the landlords remedy is to issue proceedings and seek an order for possession.

People may very well get away with travelling in the middle of the night with their locksmith to break and enter. It sounds quite macho, no nonsense and very effective. But as it may well be a criminal offence, I would think twice about doing it first off.

mf
 
The OP requires to speak with his Solicitor. Depending on the circumstances and the lease, notice does not have to be given. In certain cases the landlord may access the property by whatever means he chooses.

It may not be a criminal offence and is certainly no a Macho thing to do. Who owns the property ? Who is in breach of the lease ? And I'm dealing with the top litigators in the country. And I know other landlords who have acted in the same manner on the advice of their legal opinion.
 
This is not a competition. I am simply stating the law. What you have or have not done is neither here nor there. What the top litigators in the universe have or have not done is neither here nor there.

OP needs very specific legal advice on their own circumstances before running the risk of himself committing a criminal offence.

mf
 
It is important that I am not posting an opinion that would lead to the law being broken. The law was not broken in any of the cases that I have mentioned. I take my opinion from top class solicitors and act on their opinion. It is not fair or right to criticise others actions because it is not agreed with but falls within the law.
 
How might a landlord ensure that taking posession in the middle of the night is not considered a criminal offence? Can it be written into the lease?

OP: My sincere sympathies. We are in the middle of civil proceedings to recover unpaid rent and to get posession too. Horrible stuff.
 
I have been in the same situation on many occasions in the past. For the purpose of clarity I have ordered a box of files from storage and as soon as received, I will pass the opinion to you which a Senior Litigator gave to me in connection with a similar problem. The Court system in Ireland is so slow that the law appears to be in favour of those that do wrong rather than vice versa. The important part to recall that as a landlord you are the rightfull owner of a property where the tenant remains in breach of their lease by not discharging the rent and / or not maintaining the property in accordance with the terms of the lease.
 
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