Brigham Joel Ricks’s Answers

I assume your question is how you can get out of your lease early. Generally, if you break your lease and leave the unit, you can remain liable to the landlord for his lost rents until he finds a new tenant. Your best option may be to negotiate a solution with your landlord. For example, perhaps you and your landlord can agree to a reduced rent you can afford. The commercial leasing market in Santa Barbara is soft right now. Your landlord may prefer to get a reduced rent from you rather...

The answer to your question largely depends on the language of your lease. Generally before entering into a lease, you should inspect the building for repairs or improvements you need, and then you can negotiate with the landlord to either perform the repairs and improvements, or give you a credit towards your rent and you do the work. Frequently, leases for an entire commercial building are done on a triple-net basis. A triple-net lease requires the renter (you) to pay the landlord not...

The answer depends on a few factors. Who caused the plumbing problem? Did the renter cause it or was there an outside cause? Was the tenant aware of the plumbing problem and not report it? If the flooding was caused by your negligence, you would have a duty to the tenant. If the tenant cause the flooding, then you have no obligation. There is no duty to professionally clean the rugs or to put them into a better condition. If the rugs are not damaged or destroyed, you have no further...

In short, yes, indemnity clauses can be one-sided. That does not mean that the landlord cannot be held liable for damages you suffer due to a breach of the contract by the landlord. Indemnity clauses should always be reviewed before you sign a contract as they can subject you to a lot of risk. As for the waiver of statutory rights, it depends on the right at issue. There are some rights/protections you can waive and others that you cannot.

A $10,000 policy limit sounds low and suspicious. There may be more insurance money available to pay your medical bills. It is difficult to say whether the property owner could be held liable for your medical bills. We would need to know more about the facts surround the injury such as what your husband was doing when he was injured and what was the condition of the property. It does sound like you may have a claim worth investigating further. You should meet a personal injury attorney...

To answer your question, more information is needed, such as what is the duration of your lease, what provision of the lease is your landlord claiming you breached, etc. I will assume that your situation is that you are quitting your lease early and that the landlord wants you to pay the rent due on the balance of your lease term. Generally, the landlord has the right to pursue you for lost rents if you quit early. However, the landlord has the obligation to mitigate his damages. That...

Handshake agreements are great until there is a dispute, then it becomes difficult to prove the actual terms of the contract. In the future, get agreements, especially one concerning this much value, in writing. Generally, once you have lawful possession of a rental unit, the landlord cannot lawfully act to remove you without either your consent or a court order. However, with the facts you provided, I am unsure of the term of your tenancy, whether it is month-to-month, year-to-year, etc....

Unfortunately, this is a common problem and the advertising companies do little to correct mistakes or compensate their customers for the harm they cause. I have had clients, including myself, go through this exact same problem. You should not have to pay for defective advertising caused by your advertising company's mistakes. The most efficient and cost effective way to resolve your dispute is likely the small claims court process. You can find information on the small claims process...