Said It Here

Commercial landlord claims no lease and keeps changing settlement offers

Landlords may claim there is "no lease" to treat a commercial renter as a month-to-month tenant and serve a 30-day notice to quit. They then issue constantly shifting settlement proposals, making it difficult for tenants to understand their actual legal position before a holdover case begins. This continuous pressure and unpredictability leaves small business owners feeling highly anxious about even going to their studio.

Overview
People affected3 accounts across 2 forums
Workarounds found5 items attempted
Community agreement6 total upvotes

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

Found another way around this?

Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.

  1. 1
    making substantial payments while trying to negotiate a workable resolution
    Did this help you?
  2. 2
    trying to find a studio mate to pay several months upfront
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  3. 3
    Communicating directly with the tenant about the transition so rent is not misdirected.
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  4. 4
    Getting the security deposit transfer agreement in writing before officially canceling the contract.
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  5. 5
    Explicitly requesting move-in inspection photos and all addendums, rather than assuming they will be included with the lease.
    Did this help you?
Tried another approach not listed above?+ Share your workaround ↑

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/PropertyManagement2 people · October 2026

“Has anyone successfully terminated their contract with Belong Home Property Management while a tenant was still living in the property?”source ↗

MelodicRequirement29 · r/PropertyManagement · 2 upvotes

“I switched away from a management company once with tenants in place, the biggest headache was getting the security deposit transferred.”source ↗

“I had to ask three times for the move-in checklist”source ↗

abashedorganisation · r/PropertyManagement · 2 upvotes
r/smallbusiness1 person · September 2026

“I have a small biz in BK, NY, and I rent a commercial studio space in Brooklyn and I’m trying to understand what my actual legal position is before this turns into a holdover case.”source ↗

“Now she is saying there is “no lease” and that I am simply a commercial month-to-month tenant.”source ↗

“On August 26 she had a 30-Day Notice to Quit served on me, terminating the alleged month-to-month tenancy effective September 30.”source ↗

“Since then, I genuinely cannot count how many different versions of the deal I have received. It is probably 10–15 different proposals at this point.”source ↗

“The constant pressure and unpredictability have gotten to the point where I have sometimes felt anxious about even going to the studio.”source ↗

Dismal_Comparison824 · r/smallbusiness · 2 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised