Consumer Law, Warranties Commercial lease fraud

[SHOP1891]

I leased a commercial unit in a shopping center to operate a full maintenance & service automotive franchise. The main business of this franchise is oil changes and basic auto maintenance. The landlord failed to disclose that he had an agreement with an existing oil change/car wash facility in the same shopping center for exclusivity. I have two questions:
1. Can I bring a lawsuit against my landlord for fraud on his failure to disclose this information?
2. Is my lease agreement void?
We have lost thousands of dollars in equipment purchased to operate our business, rents and deposit payments. I would have never made the investment had I known about the exclusivity. Any advice will be helpful

 

[army judge]

I leased a commercial unit in a shopping center to operate a full maintenance & service automotive franchise. The main business of this franchise is oil changes and basic auto maintenance. The landlord failed to disclose that he had an agreement with an existing oil change/car wash facility in the same shopping center for exclusivity. I have two questions:
1. Can I bring a lawsuit against my landlord for fraud on his failure to disclose this information?

You can bring a lawsuit, anyone can sue anyone else.
The question you should be asking is, can you recover at law?
No, he had no duty to disclose that to you.
The agreement he had was with someone else.

2. Is my lease agreement void?

Of course, not.
Why would YOUR lease be void or voidable?
It isn't, and it wouldn't be.
On the other hand, the other oil change business might have a lawsuit.

We have lost thousands of dollars in equipment purchased to operate our business, rents and deposit payments. I would have never made the investment had I known about the exclusivity. Any advice will be helpful

You were responsible to have done YOUR due diligence.
The landlord had no legal duty to disclose HIS agreements with others to YOU.
In fact, had he done so, he would potentially have breached his duty to another!