Hi, I need advice. I found a biz that has been abandoned. The biz that owned it is o.o.b. I want to take it over with squatters rights or any other means. It needs a lot of cleanup, some mold removal, and some roof repairs. How do I legally take it over? How do I find help funding the repairs so I can start the biz back up?
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I had to press pause before responding here, but I just can't help myself. The property is owned by someone and it is not being maintained for a reason. It is possible that someone has fallen on hard times. Squatters rights is essentially taking something that doesn't belong to you. As a Christian Parent you should know that God has 10 no-no's and number 8 says "Thou shalt not steal."
Agree with Chuck's feedback. There is no such thing as squatter's rights. That is about as legal as "no takebacks" when swapping lunch snacks in elementary school.
That said, there is an owner, and owners have rights. The best first step is to figure out who that is and talk directly to them about purchasing the property. The business and the property owner may also be separate entities, so you may need to look at the State's business registration to determine who owns the business. You could get the property without rights to the business's name.
This is probably an area where working with an attorney might make sense.
I am not judging you, but I encourage you to consider how your idea can benefit others. When we help others, we also help ourselves. Let's work together to make this world better for everyone."
So, you want to start your business by stealing someone else's business...
What will be the name of your business... I ask because I want to steer clear of it?
With that said; the owner of the property is probably not the owner of the business.
Find the property owner and see if you can make a rental agreement.
That is a whole lot better than stealing; Right? And. probably cheaper in the long run.
I think you are talking about adverse possession. Adverse possession only applies to possession of property not businesses. I would recommend doing a reverse address search to find the owner of the building which may not be the owner of the business. Talk to him/her/they frankly about the business in the facility and what vision you have for it. Then see if you can come up with a creative way to incorporate the owner into the business such as a percentage of the revenue versus rent for the first year then a fixed amount thereafter. The owner of the building may even be willing to be a partner and take shares versus rent. I would also caution you against under-capitilizing, ie going in without capital. Likely to utilize any strategy you will need tenant improvements. Hope that helps.
PS. I am a business lawyer, should you like to set up a call.
1st see how much back taxes you will need to pay
Not knowing what state you're in, whatever I tell you might take more time than you might need.
Easiest in steps: 1- go to the tax office; you can check ownership, use, wetland info, environmental concerns, and find out if there are any liens, most important any tax lien on the property. What everyone is forgetting is the fact that the city tax collector gets first dibs. The town doesn't want it, though, so a tax lien will be satisfied by a tax sale. These will be sealed bids and opened in public on a set date. If you know the property value, cost of cleanup, cost of satisfying present codes and cost of restarting the business, and you can cover all this, make an honest bid. If you win the bid, all other liens are negated, EXCEPT water & sewer.
2- go to the building department to see if there are any open permits.
3- If you want, depending on your state, you also have "adverse possession". In New Jersey, adverse possession is a legal doctrine that allows a person to claim ownership of a piece of property that they do not have title to. In order to claim ownership under adverse possession, the person must have been in open and hostile possession of the property for 20 years. This means, if you clean it up, open the business and no one says anything, after 20 years it's yours. This is why the first steps are so important. And you must keep paying the taxes. Hostile in this case means no ownership. It has nothing to do with an argument. Be careful with this.
You need to be very careful. What about the Lease, have you contacted the Landlord. This sounds very precarious and you could put money into it and own nothing in the. I do not wish to be a Debbie Downer but I once had to help someone who did something like this, he paid a Chinese Restaurant for the business without a Business Broker, spent $480,000 on build out and had nothing in his name, it took me 6 hard months to get him a lease and save his bacon. I suggest you do NOT do it.
talk with your CPA and Business lawyer .
Hi Christian: In addition to finding the status of the real estate, you should find out if the brands (trademarks, logos, corporate name) are available. I would also talk to customers of the old business to find out what was done wrong. With this data in mind, your business plan should detail how you will do better. Gerry