Posted by Johnny on October 01, 2009 at 16:57:59:
In Reply to: Landlord vs tenant posted by Edward on July 17, 2009 at 20:09:19:
Your lease would take priority, though this is not a legality (as in criminal/misdemeanor/etc) rather a contract dispute. Issues of legality may arise depending on local laws, zoning, or regulations that may cover such an action.
Best you can do is request that they correct their behavior and follow their responsibilities under the lease and if they do not comply, file suit and evict them.
However, assuming they are otherwise a good tenant, do you really want to do this? There may be some potential liability issue with all the potential customers going onto your property, with each one having the potential to have an "accident" and sue you, however that is always something you could have the tenants cover with a separate insurance policy. Otherwise this, on its face, seams like a very minor issue to bother with. Right now you can threaten and they will probably comply unless their sales are a major source of their income. But if they do not then you will have a choice whether to follow up on your threat. Follow up on it and you will have to go through the hassle and expense of removing them and then finding a new tenant. Don't follow up and you become a weak landlord and they or others will take advantage in the future; possibly on a real serious issue.
Right now you have the option to ignore the issue, pretend you know nothing about it, or to sign an addendum covering this issue. Ignoring the issue may be the best option, although legally it may limit you from taking any remedial action in the future if you so decide at some point in the future. The no see, no foul approach may work better, but to avoid the above from happening you will have to be careful that they cannot prove that you knew about it. Signing an addendum might be best option if possible as you can spell out any concerns and resolutions directly into your lease. That way if the situation does become impossible, you will be able to point to the contract to specific issues that need correcting; note that the addendum would obviously give them the right to do what they are doing with of course whatever restrictions you deem necessary to have.