rental-property tenant
Leased an incomplete commercial building and landlord is not finishing
<p>I leased a commercial building that was currently being built. At the time the physical structure had been completed and all that was left was connecting water and electricity to the building. In the lease agreement we stipulated that rent would be 50% off until the building received full services and then the full rent payment would be due. There was a verbal agreement that the process of &quot;hooking up the water and electric&quot; should take no longer than a few weeks.</p>
<p>It's now been over 3 months since the lease was signed and the building still does not have services. The landlord is slowly installing services but there seems to be a lack of urgency in getting things done. For example, he passed inspection for electric on April 1rst but has yet to schedule a time to put in the utility pole to get electrical service (as of April 29th). I cannot run my business without the electric and water hooked up. I understand there was no stipulation on when or if the electric and water would be installed in the lease agreement, but I'm wondering what I should do in this case. I cannot use the property for my business, nor can I get it insured for theft until electric is installed.</p>
<p>My ideal situation would be that I would recover the amounts that I have paid beyond the first month and discontinue payments until full water and electric is available. This property is ideal for my type of business and it may be difficult to find another due to market circumstances in my area.</p>
<p>The least ideal situation would be to continue paying half rent on a building I can't use indefinitely until the lease term is up.</p>

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<p>In the lease agreement we stipulated that rent would be 50% off until the building received full services and then the full rent payment would be due.</p>
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<p>Ouch.  I bet the lease agreement also says something like &quot;no other agreements verbal or otherwise are in effect for this agreement.&quot;  So what you did was release the landlord from the responsibility to make the building habitable.  Pretty sure you will need a lawyer to unwind this.</p>
