Updated almost 5 years ago on .
Unusual situation with a commercial tenant
I have a commercial tenant (bakery). We used to run the bakery and to get out in a rush when my partner moved back to Israel, we sold the equipment (ovens, refrigerators, Proofers, mixers etc) and rented the space to this tenant. We wrote a note for the equipment sale and wrote a lease for 1 year and handed over our bakery accounts (we were profitable). Soon after he took over, he messed up orders with some major clients and ran the business to the ground. He was behind on rent and his guarantor covered the balance when I showed him the door in October. The note for equipment did not see any payments beyond the initial down payment (10k of 30k sale price). I told him to remove all equipment by end of November and I will waive the note and not go to court as I just wanted the space back. Otherwise he will have to sell all equipment and pay my note with the proceeds.
He is not making any attempts to sell the equipment (or telling me he has no buyers and he will remove it when he find buyers). I am stuck as I cant rent the space. Can someone advice me on what I can do the equipment? It is not cheap to remove the equipment. The note is in default but I dont want to pay back the original 10K down payment and keep the equipment and he is not paying any rent to hold the equipment. Can I sell whatever I can and keep the money as part of the payment to my note? Or does he still have ownership on the equipment. Can he just go to court if I do a fire sale? When is it considered abandoned? If there are some attorneys on this board to talk to me about this, I would like to connect with you.