Security deposit on commercial property tennessee?
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at
11:16 am
The landlord on my commercial space owes me my security deposit. Per the contract, he had 10 days to return it. Tommorow is day 10. I received an email from him telling me that he was Buy Viagra Online waiting on payment from a client before he can pay me! Per the law, does he have to hold that security in a seperate account? This is burning me, b/c I was 1 day late 1 time and he charged me the late fee, so I want to be prepared if he is late. If it goes to court can I sue him for all court and attorney fees as well as the deposit? BTW, he has already inspected the property and agreed that I was due all of my deposit.
I don’t believe TN law requires escrow of security deposits. YOu can try and get back reasonable costs and fees; no guarantee you will for a 3 day miss.
Contact him and remind him of the contract. I am sure it does not contain a clause stating you have to wait for him to collect from someone else. This would be a Small Claims court case (if needed) and he would be required to pay for the filing fee when the ruling was made against him.
Security deposits are, depending on state law, required to be kept in an escrow account. It is your money until the LL declares that you owe for repairs.
You can sue, but you should be reasonable. First of all, look at the lease to see if there is a self-executing penalty for breaches of the lease. He may be required to pay you a set fee, and you don’t want to take him to court when that is all you can get.
In most states, breach of contract is an action for which you can get costs and reasonable attorney fees. Instead of suing, however, you may want to send him a notice that you will be charging a fee for every day he is late. It’s probably unenforceable, but doesn’t hurt you to warn him you will seek extra damages.
** Note: This is a general discussion of the subject matter of your question and not legal advice. Local laws or your particular situation may change the general rules. For a specific answer to your question you should consult legal counsel with whom you can discuss all the facts of your case. Answering this question does not indicate an attorney-client relationship. **
The salient point here is that this is a COMMERCIAL lease which is governed by contract law, not L/T laws of tennessee.
My reading of the Tennessee statutes does NOT require that the deposit be held in an interest bearing or other restricted account unless the specific lease so calls for such.
Also, unless there is language to the effect that you are allowed to charge a late fee for the deposit being late, you will most likely also lose on that point. Read your lease for all possible clauses but as of my reading of the relevant law, you will need to wait until it is apparant the deposit is not being paid (one wee after the 10 days with a notice to pay sent) before suing for specific performance.