This is an off the wall question but I was wondering about something and need some sound advice. I am looking at an Italian Restaurant here in southern Sarasota and the business is closed. Here is the funny thing about it, it looks like the real estate renter just came and shut down the restaurant because everything is still inside the restaurant and a few lights are on. The sign says it is closed until a new owner opens the restaurant. Now I am interested in getting into this but my key question is, does the Real Estate renter actually have the right to rent out that same restaurant to a new lease holder with all the restaurant property inside? Or is there a legal situation where the previous business owner has the right to take all his restaurant equipment once a new lease holder arrives? The reason I ask this is because the Building owner told me over the phone that he did not care if I used the equipment or not as long as I paid my lease. When I asked about the previous business owner he just said, “He didn’t pay a cent owed on the last 6 months due so I closed my property up. Don’t matter to me who does what with it now as long as all dues are paid.”
So am I looking at a rare opportunity considering I have enough capital to start this back up or will I be getting myself into a huge legal battle? Can anyone advice?