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Old 14-11-2019, 00:37   #1
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Liveaboard grandfathered?

Our marina was just purchased. The new owner wants to get rid of the liveaboards and doesn't want to honour their liveaboard lease contracts because they say they only bought the marina assets, not the company. Can the new owner do this?

Thanks
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Old 14-11-2019, 03:30   #2
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Re: Liveaboard grandfathered?

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Originally Posted by deano555 View Post
Our marina was just purchased. The new owner wants to get rid of the liveaboards and doesn't want to honour their liveaboard lease contracts because they say they only bought the marina assets, not the company. Can the new owner do this?

Thanks
Was the marina company dissolved after the hard asset sale?

Your contracts are an asset to someone, but who owns those contracts now? How long are the contracts for? Are you already paid in full? Did they offer a refund?
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Old 14-11-2019, 06:19   #3
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Re: Liveaboard grandfathered?

I suppose the new owners can chuck everyone out. You might be able to make it expensive for them, but at the end of the day, private property, squatters, it could get really ugly.

Sometimes, marina owners are unaware of the benefits to them of having liveaboards . There is less criminal activity (mostly theft) where there are liveaboards, as they tend to look after each other, notice if someone different comes to the boat, and question strangers. They also voluntarily to bits of marina cleanup, removing plastics and trash from the water of theirs and sometimes adjoining berths. They help others dock their boats. They can create a friendly, community atmosphere. Where that atmosphere is in place, people take better care of the facility, altering staff to problems as they occur. There was a study documenting benefits of liveaboards done in the SF Bay Area, a long time ago, back in the late '70's or early 80's, when the BCDC (Bay Area Conservation and Development Commission) created legislation limiting liveaboards to 10% of the berths there.

Maybe they would change their minds about liveabords if educated. It might be worth a try.

I think that if, as is suggested by Chotu, you follow the money, it will possibly lead to your answer. If you have paid up for a year, I think you would be able to gain compensation if they insisted you move. It would probably only need a letter from your lawyer to do it.



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Old 14-11-2019, 06:40   #4
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Re: Liveaboard grandfathered?

To begin with, read the explicit terms of your rental contract, in particular as to its duration, and the termination provisions [notice period and method] and assignment clauses as to successors in interests [note interests being plural, your's and the marina owner's].

Generally speaking all interests regarding real property that extend for greater than one year require a written contract in the USA.
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Old 14-11-2019, 07:43   #5
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Re: Liveaboard grandfathered?

An asset purchase usually happens when the first company separates its assets from its debts in the sale process. The new purchaser buys just the assets, the original company keeps just the debts, and the debt holders and other asset owners don't get a fair and transparent process.

In some states in the US, such business sales are illegal. But this doesn't really address or solve your problem.

Check your contract or slip lease if you have one, and check what notice periods are required. If you are month to month, in most places, a change only requires a 30 days notice. If it's a year long lease, check whether they can terminate early and if there are any change of ownership requirements. Lastly, since you are a live aboard, your local county may have a renter's rights board or commission that you can get help from.

I feel for you, man. Good luck!
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Old 14-11-2019, 08:31   #6
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Re: Liveaboard grandfathered?

Also check to see if you (not your boat) are a tenant in the real-property sense in your jurisdiction. Some places don't extend rental protections to living on a boat, other places do. Depending on where you are you may be able to avail yourself of services and laws related to tenancy, eviction, etc.

But that will all depend on your location, which you didn't provide.
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Old 14-11-2019, 09:43   #7
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Re: Liveaboard grandfathered?

So first off if you have a contract it is with the original company. Outside of some eviction laws that vary by state, there's no right to enforce a contract on an entity not party to that contract, which is the new owner of the assets in this case. Buying assets vs a company to shed contact liability is completely settled law in every state and happens all the time, so there's probably little point in challenging that, even though I completely agree it sucks and doesn't seem fair to you.

But at the end of the day your best legal strategy may very NOT be the best strategy to get what you want. You probably want to exhaust all attempts to get the bees with honey before threatening vinigar because at that point it's adversarial and even if you legally "win" you'll have lost from the perspective of what it takes out of you. And at the point you start asserting "rights" the new owner will most probably be completely unreceptive to anything other than a legal settlement.
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Old 14-11-2019, 10:52   #8
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Re: Liveaboard grandfathered?

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So first off if you have a contract it is with the original company. Outside of some eviction laws that vary by state, there's no right to enforce a contract on an entity not party to that contract, which is the new owner of the assets in this case. Buying assets vs a company to shed contact liability is completely settled law in every state and happens all the time, so there's probably little point in challenging that, even though I completely agree it sucks and doesn't seem fair to you.

But at the end of the day your best legal strategy may very NOT be the best strategy to get what you want. You probably want to exhaust all attempts to get the bees with honey before threatening vinigar because at that point it's adversarial and even if you legally "win" you'll have lost from the perspective of what it takes out of you. And at the point you start asserting "rights" the new owner will most probably be completely unreceptive to anything other than a legal settlement.
This gets messy as the prior owner and new owner can't enforce a contract change on the boat owner as a 3rd party not involved in the sale. If you wanted to make an issue of it, you could likely drag things out thru the end of your lease via legal proceedings...but really it's the prior owner who is failing to meet their contract terms.

I do agree with the rest, if you lawyer up and start threatening, at best you will have an uncomfortable remainder to your lease and then you are kicked out.
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Old 15-11-2019, 10:26   #9
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Re: Liveaboard grandfathered?

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An asset purchase usually happens when the first company separates its assets from its debts in the sale process. The new purchaser buys just the assets, the original company keeps just the debts, and the debt holders and other asset owners don't get a fair and transparent process.

In some states in the US, such business sales are illegal. But this doesn't really address or solve your problem.

!
Respectfully, this is a totally incorrect. Asset acquisitions are normal, and the most common type of business purchase done. They are not done, and can’t be done, to avoid paying creditors.

The answer is it all depends on the terms of your lease. Generally, lessors leave themselves an out in case they sell. If it’s worth your time, talk to a lawyer. They can’t keep any prepaid funds. Bottom line though, if they want you out, it will be an uncomfortable tenancy.
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