My store went out of business back in Aug and I still have 3.5 years left on my store lease. My LLC has not filed bankruptcy since I have personally guaranteed the lease and bankruptcy would not relieve me of the obligation. I have been looking for a sub-lessee while paying rent on the space. I just found out that my landlord has filed for bankrupcy and court hearings are schedules for next months. My real estate broker says since I don’t have a lease to sub, he cannot sign up a sub-tenant even though he has some interested parties. So what are my obligations?
Best case would be for me to get out of the lease agreement and simply walk away. Next best thing is for me to sublease and the worst case would that I am still liable for the remainder of the terms. What do you think would happen?
Here are some details about the lease agreement. When I signed the lease, it was with previous landlord. The building is a brand new construction and the previous landlord was the commercial development company. About 6 months later, the building was sold to the current landlord. Current landlord is a LLC consisting of 26 investors who are scattered all over the country and I was told that the LLC that owns the building is just another holding company.
Is there a possibility that I would be relieved of my obligations and that lease contract will be come void? This is a small building with 5 stores where 2 have closed and 2 are struggling. While the legal issues are being sorted out with the landlord, do I still need to pay my rent? Technically because they are unable to let me sub-lease, they are depriving me of the opportunity transfer the liability. With the economy in such a bad shape, I am sure this is happening all over. What is your prediction?
Thank you for your advice.
