Rent agreement/lease

Hello, I signed a lease for a commercial rental. The owner said that the previous tenant was there for over 20 years and he needed to fix the place. We signed the lease and gave him the deposit, he said that upon completion of the build out he was going to hand us the keys. I needed to buy doors and the handles. I gave him $1500. He said that he would safe the receipts. The build out is completed and he gives me a bill of 5k for things that he "had" to do. He said that the vents were too old, that he had to change the heater and other stuff. When I said no because I was not expecting to pay anything, he sends me a new bill for 12k because I was being unappreciated of the work he did. I need to know my options since I don't have the keys yet and I won't pay something that I didn't know it was needed. Thank you!

Mathew K.

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February 1, 2022

It depends on if there was a written agreement or a verbal agreement for your options. Sending a demand letter from an attorney followed by negotiations could help resolve the problem and avoid litigation. If the landlord remains unreasonable then you will likely have to file a lawsuit. Please resubmit as a proposal at the following link so attorneys can bid on the project: https://www.contractscounsel.com/client/create-project/step-h1?cta=4.