Recent Answers to Tennessee Law Questions

Fema B.

Answered Sep 22, 2026

This situation should be reviewed before you agree to pay the $350,000. The first documents I would examine are your commercial lease, any landlord representations regarding code compliance or permitted use of the premises as a restaurant, the certificate of occupancy and permit history, and the notices or reports identifying the gas-line violations. Tennessee currently applies the International Fuel Gas Code to regulated construction, but the governmental authority responsible for permitting and inspection can depend on where the property is located. Whether the cost ultimately falls on you or the property owner will depend heavily on the lease. Commercial leases frequently allocate responsibility for code compliance, repairs, pre-existing conditions, tenant improvements, and governmental requirements differently. If the gas work predated your tenancy and the premises were represented as suitable for restaurant use, there may be substantial issues concerning the landlord's obligations, representations, and potentially your remedies under the lease. I would not assume that simply because the municipality is requiring corrective work before opening, you are contractually responsible for the entire cost. The pizza oven is a separate ownership issue. The fact that the prior restaurant operator filed bankruptcy does not automatically mean the oven belongs to its creditors. You would need to determine whether the oven was owned by the former tenant, leased, subject to a perfected security interest, abandoned or transferred through the bankruptcy, or legally became a fixture of the real property. Tennessee law recognizes separate creditor and priority rules for goods and fixtures, including circumstances in which a secured creditor may have rights to remove fixtures. Before removing, using, or disposing of the oven, I would review the prior tenant's bankruptcy docket and asset schedules, run a UCC lien search, and determine whether the landlord received title to or abandoned-property rights in the equipment. I would also obtain the complete permitting history for the building and have counsel review the lease before accepting responsibility for a remediation bill of this magnitude.

DC L.

Answered Sep 22, 2026

You likely have more leverage than the termination clause alone. A publisher that took payment for services it never delivered, ignored a promotion commitment, and now refuses to respond has its own performance problems under the agreement, and those may matter more than the three-year sales trigger. The specifics of your contract control, including its termination, notice, refund, and governing law provisions, and the Tennessee and Oklahoma pieces need to be handled in the right order. I'm licensed in Tennessee and my firm has an Oklahoma-licensed attorney who has published multiple books, so we can review the agreement and lay out your options for a flat fee. Feel free to request a proposal.

Christopher W.

Answered Sep 1, 2026

There may be. A lot will depend on what your lease actually says and what you have in writing from the owner about the 30-day “easy out.” If the owner clearly agreed that you could terminate with 30 days’ notice, your 45-day notice and the communications surrounding it could be important. That said, an oral agreement may not be enforceable if it conflicts with the written lease, particularly if the lease requires changes, notice, or waivers to be in writing. You should have a Tennessee attorney review the lease, your termination notice, and all communications with the owner to determine if the alleged damages are correct and legitimate. There may be defenses available depending on the lease language.

Adam J.

Answered Apr 28, 2026

Most used car sales in Tennessee are "as-is," and if your buyer's guide and contract say that, the dealer generally isn't on the hook for repairs as a contractual matter. The first thing to check: does your paperwork show "As-Is - No Warranty" or "Implied Warranties Only" or "Dealer Warranty"? If the dealer misrepresented the truck's condition, knew about pre-existing defects and concealed them, or has been stringing you along in bad faith, the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act allows for treble (triple) damages and attorney's fees. This is often the strongest hammer in used-car disputes

Michael S.

Answered Oct 25, 2022

We really need to know more about the business and how everyone envisions ownership in order to answer the question. In general (and this is very general - I am a PA lawyer, not Tennessee), a limited partnership is an entity through which a business or property is owned. In a limited partnership, you need to have a general partner (either one more individuals or entities) who essentially manage the entity, and also have liability for all liabilities of the general partnership. The limited partners invest in the entity, but have no liability for the entity's obligations.

Jane C.

Answered Oct 11, 2022

Corporations have by-laws.