Legal Question in Real Estate Law in North Carolina

Rented a 30 acre house/property, only to find out later 20 of it was leased as farmland to another. Our contract is for the entire parcel of 30 acres. Conract is $1650 house and $500 for land and buildings. Owner / realty company refuses to accept our offer of $100 towards the building and land since we only can use 8 of the 30 acres. They will accept $400 instead of $500. It turns out, they knew at the time of the contract signing that we would only have eight acres. Not sure where to go from here.


Asked on 7/17/15, 8:33 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Kathie Russell Russell & Associates

If the lease specifically states in writing that you are leasing 30 acres, the landlord is in breach of contract. You can sue them for the breach to recover damages or to enforce performance (which would be a waste of time, since they are unable to perform since the property is leased to someone else). However, you do have the right to sue them for damages (whatever those might be) and perhaps the threat of such a lawsuit would cause them to be reasonable in the reduction. You also have the right to get out of the lease entirely, since they are in breach. How you should proceed depends upon what you want. If you are fine getting out of the lease, then go at them full on. If you want to stay, proceed with caution, since at the end of the day it could come down to your remedy being that you have the choice to stay or go. If they want you to stay more than you care about staying, you have negotiating power to threaten to reduce or leave. If they don't care about losing you as a tenant then your approach would be different. You should probably consult an attorney to help you.

Read more
Answered on 7/17/15, 9:06 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Real Estate and Real Property questions and answers in North Carolina