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30 guides matching your search
- Commercial leases: key terms and how they work
A commercial lease rents space for business use: an office, a shop, a restaurant, or a warehouse. Commercial leases are governed mostly by their own terms and general contract and property law, with far fewer statutory protections than residential leases.
- Leasing commercial space
Leasing commercial space usually involves negotiating a lease that allocates rent, operating costs, repairs, insurance, permitted use, and risks between you and the landlord. Commercial tenants generally receive fewer protections than residential tenants, so the written lease and local law are especially important.
- Selling or closing a small business
Selling a small business usually involves transferring its assets, shares, or partnership interest to a buyer, while closing a business involves ending operations and dealing with debts, taxes, employees, contracts, and registrations. The legal and financial results can differ substantially depending on the business st
- Franchise agreements: what to check
A franchise agreement is a long-term business contract that controls how you use another business’s brand, systems, products, and support. Before signing, the main issues usually include total cost, operating restrictions, territory, renewal, termination, personal guarantees, and what information the franchisor provide
- Noise nuisance from a neighbour's house
Noise from a neighbour’s house may become a legal nuisance when it is excessive, unreasonable, or repeatedly interferes with your ordinary use of your home. The available remedies commonly depend on local noise rules, the time and type of noise, your lease or homeowners’ association rules, and whether the problem affec
- Short-term renting your home: rules and risks
Short-term renting your home can create income, but it can also trigger local licensing, planning, tax, safety, insurance, lease, homeowners’ association, and neighbour-dispute issues. The rules depend heavily on where the property is located, how often it is rented, and whether you rent the whole home or only a room.
- Car repossession and your rights
Car repossession usually happens after missed loan or lease payments, but the lender’s rights depend on the contract, local law, and whether the vehicle is used for personal or business purposes. You may have rights to notice, a chance to catch up, a fair sale process, and information about any remaining balance.
- Can your landlord enter without notice?
A landlord usually cannot enter a rented home whenever they want. Most places allow entry for specific reasons—such as repairs, inspections, or showing the property—after advance notice, while emergencies may allow entry without notice.
- Eviction notices and the eviction process
An eviction notice is usually a formal warning that a landlord wants to end your tenancy; it is not always the same as a court order requiring you to leave immediately. The effect of the notice, your response options, and the deadline for acting depend heavily on where you live and why the landlord is seeking possessio
- Illegal lockouts and utility shut-offs by landlords
An illegal lockout happens when a landlord prevents you from entering your rented home without following the required eviction process. An unlawful utility shut-off generally occurs when a landlord intentionally disconnects essential services, or uses the disconnection to force you to leave or pay a disputed amount.
- Late fees and what a landlord may charge
A landlord may sometimes charge a late fee when rent is paid after the date required by the tenancy agreement, but the fee must usually be authorized by the agreement and allowed by local law. Courts and housing authorities commonly reject fees that are hidden, excessive, punitive, or unrelated to a genuine cost or leg
- Squatters and trespassers on your property
A trespasser enters or remains on property without permission, while a “squatter” usually refers to someone who occupies property and may later claim rights based on possession or tenancy. Immediate danger, threats, or violence are emergency matters for emergency services; otherwise, removal usually depends on local tr
- Mould, damp and unsafe conditions in a rental
Mould, damp, leaks, poor ventilation, pests, cold, and other unsafe conditions may breach a landlord’s duty to provide a habitable or reasonably fit rental home. The outcome usually depends on the cause of the problem, how serious it is, whether the landlord knew about it, and the law where the property is located.
- Cameras and privacy around your home
If cameras around your home capture neighbors, visitors, public areas, or private conversations, privacy, surveillance, data-protection, and harassment laws may apply. The result often depends on where the camera points, whether it records sound, why the footage is collected, and whether it is shared.
- Mediation and arbitration instead of court
Mediation is a negotiated process in which a neutral person helps the parties try to reach their own agreement; the mediator normally cannot impose a decision. Arbitration is a private process in which a neutral arbitrator decides the dispute, usually through a less formal procedure than a court, and the decision may b
- Breach of contract: remedies and how they work
A breach of contract happens when a party fails to do something the contract requires, does it late, or performs inadequately. Your possible responses commonly include seeking damages, requiring performance, ending the contract in serious cases, or using negotiation, mediation, arbitration, or court proceedings.
- Getting paid as a freelancer: late payment rights
A freelancer’s right to be paid usually comes from the contract with the client, including any agreement about the amount, due date, milestones, and expenses. If payment is late, possible remedies may include interest, compensation, collection costs, a court claim, or a statutory payment remedy, but the available optio
- A client will not pay your invoice
When a client does not pay an invoice, the dispute usually turns on the agreement, whether the work was completed as promised, and whether the amount is due. Common responses include checking the contract, sending a formal payment demand, negotiating, using a small-claims or civil court, or pursuing enforcement after j
- Breaking a lease early without huge penalties
Breaking a fixed-term lease usually does not automatically end your responsibility for rent, but you may be able to leave with limited cost through a break clause, an agreed surrender, a replacement tenant, or a legal right to terminate. The result depends heavily on the lease terms and the law where the property is lo
- Reading a lease before you sign it
A lease is a contract that sets out what you and the landlord agree about the home, rent, deposits, repairs, access, and ending the tenancy. Reading it before signing can help you find costs, restrictions, deadlines, and terms that differ from the usual legal rules.
- Subletting and having a roommate the landlord did not approve
A roommate is usually someone who shares your home with you, while a subtenant rents all or part of the home from you and may have exclusive use of that space. Whether the arrangement is allowed usually depends on your lease, local residential-tenancy law, and whether you continue living in the property.
- Rent increases: how much and how often a landlord can raise rent
A landlord’s ability to increase rent usually depends on the lease, whether the tenancy is fixed-term or periodic, and rent-control or notice rules where the property is located. There is no single worldwide limit: some places cap increases, while others mainly require advance written notice and prohibit increases that
- Getting a refund for faulty goods
When goods are faulty, consumer law may give you a right to a repair, replacement, price reduction, or refund, even if the seller’s written warranty has expired. The remedy usually depends on the seriousness of the fault, how long ago you bought the item, how much you have used it, and the law where you live.
- Landlord repair duties and tenant remedies
Landlords generally have legal duties to keep rental homes safe, sanitary, and fit to live in, but the details depend on the lease and the law where the property is located. A repair problem is usually handled by documenting the condition, giving proper notice, allowing reasonable access and time, and using an availabl
- What happens when your landlord sells the building
When a landlord sells a building, the sale usually does not automatically end your tenancy. In many places, the buyer takes over the landlord’s rights and responsibilities, including the lease, repairs, notices, and handling of your security deposit.
- Is a verbal agreement or text message a contract?
A verbal agreement can be a legally binding contract if the usual elements of a contract are present. Text messages can also create or help prove a contract, although unclear wording, missing terms, or messages sent during preliminary negotiations can make the result uncertain.
- Noise complaints against or from your neighbours in a flat
Noise disputes in flats usually turn on whether the sound is unreasonable in the circumstances, what your lease or building rules say, and whether the landlord, building manager, council, or court has authority to act. Common responses include an informal conversation, a written complaint, mediation, enforcement of bui
- Retaliation after you complained to your landlord
If you face immediate danger, contact emergency services first. Retaliation usually means a landlord takes harmful action because you made a legally protected complaint, such as reporting unsafe conditions or asserting a tenancy right.
- Water damage from an upstairs or neighbouring property
If water from an upstairs or neighbouring property damages your home, responsibility often depends on the source of the water, who controlled the relevant pipe or appliance, and whether someone failed to take reasonable care. Insurance, tenancy, condominium or strata rules, leases, and local property law may all affect
- Pets, service animals and emotional support animals in rentals
Rental rules often distinguish between ordinary pets and animals needed because of a disability. A landlord may usually set reasonable pet conditions, but disability-discrimination or human-rights laws can require an exception for a service animal or other assistance animal.