Our Success Stories
Member was leasing a commercial space that was in the back of a larger unit and had no access door from the outside. Member worked with the employer who held the lease for the larger unit and her lease was with the landlord directly, not a sublease. The employer recently fired the manager and had the exterior door locks changed. Member was not provided new keys to access the unit and when she reached out to the landlord to get a key in order to enter her office, she was told that that she couldn’t access the unit due to the sheltering-in-place order and their reduced hours. The attorney advised member that the executive order gave her the ability to conduct “minimum business operations” and discussed options with member of asking that an exterior door be built in order for her to access her space or request that she be released from her lease without recourse. In response to our letter, member was released from her lease, saving her $11,520.00.
Member contacted our office for assistance obtaining a refund of monies paid to a charter bus company. Member paid a deposit for a chartered bus trip for her women’s church group to travel to a conference in Orlando, Florida. Due to sheltering-in-place orders and the closure of venues in Florida, the trip had to be cancelled. Member gave the company enough notice that the trip had been cancelled and requested a refund. The bus company denied her request for a refund. The attorney reviewed member’s contract and wrote a letter to the charter bus company pointing out their contract lacked a force majeure clause and they were liable to provide a full refund of the deposit. In response to our letter, the charter bus company issued a full refund in the amount of $2,252.00.
Member is a small business owner and contacted our office with questions about the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Member is concerned that she borrowed too much money and does not feel that she will use 75% of it for salaries. She wanted to know if she can return part of it and use the rest as a grant, or if she can just return the money. The attorney explained that if the loan is too big and she is concerned about not being able to spend it correctly and get it forgiven, there is a grace period allowing her to return the funds without penalty. There doesn’t appear to be an option to return just a portion of the loan, so the safest thing to do is to not spend the excess funds and hold them to use to pay back the loan as soon as the repayment process has been finalized. The attorney directed her to the following website for additional information: https://www.sba.gov