Consumer Law, Warranties Contract after venue ownership change

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anonymoususer19

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Hi,

I am getting married in three weeks, and my fiance and I had previously signed a contract with the lodge where our ceremony and reception are to be held. We rented the entire lodge for the weekend. The contract states that it is between us and the lodge, not a specific person.

Within the last couple of weeks, the ownership of the property changed hands, and the new owners are turning the lodge into a bed and breakfast. They changed the name of the lodge, and they stated that our contract is no longer valid. They told us that they will still "honor it", but have tacked on additional fees (for example, to pump the sewer system after our event) and declared parts of the lodge off-limits for us to use, including the main floor restroom!

Do we have any legal rights, or is our contract truly null and void now? We already have contracts with our photographer, caterer, etc. at that location, and like I said, the wedding is 3 weeks away, so we really cannot go somewhere else. Furthermore, we gave our credit card information to these people prior to them telling us that there would be all these additional charges and restrictions.

Thank you.
 
Depends how the sale of the lodge was accomplished. If the purchaser bought the whole business, they bought it subject to its existing contractual obligations. Your contract is not null and void. The new owner has to honour your contract, and can't go tacking on additional fees.

On the other hand, if the new owner just bought the lodge, then the former owner has essentially breached your contract. It's not "void" per se, but it can't be fulfilled. You'd need to go after the former owner for damages.

I think you need to get the old owner and the new owner together to work out some sort of arrangement. You don't want to have to sue the old owner, and you don't want to get screwed by the new owner. Either the new owner will honour your contract, or the old owner could be convinced to kick in something to sweeten the pot for the new owner.
 
Thanks for your response! Unfortunately, I think they probably bought the lodge, not the business, and it was previously owned by a somewhat famous rich guy whose assets are being liquidated to pay off his debts... so if we wanted to go after him, we'd just have to get in line. Again, thanks for your help!
 
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