I had a shop for 9 mths without signing the lease, am i still liable for anything?

the landlord says im liable for the lease even though i didnt sign anything
Additional Details
im not stiffing anyone he's trying to wangle money out of me, i didnt make any profit which is why i closed down

nope you are not liable for any thing. 9 months is a long period so if you did not sign anything you are free from everything ....you can walk away proudly

[edit2] :) You need to provide the relevant info at the beginning. If he cashed the checks or accepted the money without demanding more then you have made the payments you understood complied with the verbal agreement. If he press for more then threaten to countersue for at least half of that money to be returned under the contract amount he is stating. You can also ask that the store be left under your control for the amount of time the paid funds cover; about a year or less. He could not rent it without your permission during that time and it would be a sublease of yours, not his.

[edit] the amount he is stating is the start of your negotiation - 9 months under that lease - $937.50. $10k divided over 8 years then divide that yearly rent by 12 for a monthly rate and then mulitply by 9 to get the amount that would have been paid under that lease for the time you were there. There was no lease so there should be no obvious penalty for abrogating the lease.

Offer that, and you are covered for having made a good faith effort to pay your debt to him. Tell him you need a payment arrangement as you cannot pay it all at one time; this is a reasonable thing to request. Take his demand and make it your basis for doing the right thing.

You might not be legally liable but you exhibit terrible ethics in trying to walk away without paying anything to the landlord.

if I was the landlord I would sue you to find out. You are definitely stiffing the landlord because you occupied that space that he could have rented to someone else during that time. To not make any effort to pay something is ethically wrong.

If you do not make some arrangement with the landlord he can probably put something on your credit report that explains the situation; anyone you try to get credit from in future for personal or business use will then see that. It is also in your own best interest to not stiff the landlord.

I know I would also post on the Better Business Bureau under the name your business used just to document it there also.

Nope if you didnt sign anything then you can just walk away.

He can dream of you paying him but no contract means no money. You can argue that you had a verbal contract and that he'd take a percentage of profits- but that you never made a profit.

Is there a good reason why you are stiffing him? What goes around comes around, remember...

If you paid rent then cool, don't pay up. He's having a laugh and is a fool not to ahve had you sign the lease to begin with.

I agree, if you never signed a contract then you are not liable.

well, LUCKY you!
your landlord may be hissing like a snake but he aint got a pot to p1ss in!!

NO signature , NO Sh1t to worry (for you, that is)

It sounds like you had a verbal, month-to-month lease. You're generally still required to give 30 days notice so you can't tell him on March 29 that you're leaving on March 31. Other than that, and the obvious such as damage, etc. you should be good. Is he trying to make you pay for an entire year?

You are not liable for anything, but take pictures of the space and try to give a 30 day notice to vacate premises. When you take picures, make sure they are very clear and precise. If possible try to put a date on them.

no lease no liabilities, don't listen to him if necessary get a lawyer.

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