I have a Sole Propietor business. I got an office for rent. First the building owner said he will give me the office on month to month basis as he advertised. After I talked to him and liked the office, I decided to get it, He said we can file the paperwork in 2 days and give you the key. In the meantime, i setup appointments with my clients for the following week. I went to him in 2 days and he said month to month is not in his interest. I should sign a 6 month lease. I said I want month to month, He said he is not intersted in month to month. He said he will give me first month half off if I sign up for the 6 month lease. Basically he relled me in for a kill. I had already setup appointments with my clients so I went ahead with it. Later he put 7 months on the lease instead of 6 months. I started on Sep 1st and he made the end date on March 31st but it should have been Feb 28th. I failed to catch it. I asked him about the end date after signing when I saw it and he said I gave you first month half off so it does not count in the lease and this document will not change now. 3 months into trying to run my business I did not make any money so I decided not to pursue with my business. I am having troubling paying for the office rent while I am not making any money from it. I talked to him about my situation and he said he does not care, it's not his problem, and I have to honor the contract and keep paying him til March 31st. is there a way for me to get out of this contract? What will happen if I stop paying the rent?
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Sorry to break it to you, but the landlord is right. No one forced your hand to sign the lease and you had every opportunity to read and scrutinize it. When you signed the contract either you or your company agreed to honor the lease in full. I would expect to be sued and evicted if you default. If you depart willingly to avoid the eviction you will be saving yourself a lot of added fees and credit damage, but will still owe the rent through the original lease term. If you have a deposit, the deposit will be forfeited immediately upon default. In some jurisdictions judgments accrue interest until resolved and as long as it remains unresolved it will hurt your credit.
You also might want to meticulously read the lease to make sure you end it correctly or else you will be on the hook for even more rent.
You can sublet the office. Advertise that you have an office available for a three month term.