I Need Some Legal Advice - ASAP ??

My friend had his restaurant business (LLC) closed down yesterday by his landlord and forced out. He had bought it from someone (with proof of sale) who was originally on a lease for that space with the landlord. But apparently when he made the sale to my friend he was not on a lease with that landlord. My friend had been dealing only with this middle person and had not signed a lease directly with the landlord but had actually payed the rent for two months to this middle person. The landlord now has eased the property to some other third person and has this forced my friend out of property by force (with police) without any notification. What are the next steps of action he should take legally and who should he file a case against ? Eveything inside the building (including equipement and misc utensils and furniture were fully invested by him) and he needs help to get his investment back. Otherwise he will be broke. Please help.I Need Some Legal Advice - ASAP ??
if the police legally removed him from the premises, he will need a lawyer to fight this one





going to need to go into court, seek an injunction, seek damages etc, but without knowing all the facts he may or may not even be able to bring a suitI Need Some Legal Advice - ASAP ??
My first step would be to get a copy of the lease the ';middle'; person signed, and one that your friend signed. If the original lease (from the actual owner) doesn't say that the space can be sub leased, then your beef would be with the middle man. Sounds like you need to find a real estate attorney. Some rental laws are different in different states, so its best to get advice from someone local.
He's going to need a lawyer.





The prime tenant may well not have had the legal right to sub-let the property. Since your friend was not the legal tenant, he wasn't the one entitled to be given notice of the eviction.





In addition, the primary tenant may well have given the landlord the right to repossess the fixtures and furniture as security for his rent, so he may not have been able to convey full ownership of that stuff to your friend when he bought the business.





Your friends only legal recourse ';may'; be to sue the original tenant, who, of course, may not have the money any more.





Legal counsel is essential in this case.





Richard
Hiring a lawyer for minor legal problems can be expensive, but there are websites like LawGuru, FindLaw and other places where you can get free legal advice. I found this website useful - http://www.uelp.org/freelegal.html
I'm no lawyer, but it sounds like he sublet it from his friend. In such case, he needs to get with the friend, and see the terms of the lease, as to what kind of notice is required by either party to terminate the lease. The lease may have expired without him knowing, in which case he is out of luck unless he can show that he was not resigned due to some sort of discrimination (race, gender etc). Also, advise him to go to the chamber of commerce for advice.