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QUESTION
What assistance is available for businesses facing foreclosure or lease issues?
0:30:52
·
55 sec
The Department of Small Business Services (SBS) offers a commercial lease assistance program that provides free legal assistance to businesses facing lease issues or the foreclosure process.
- The program assists businesses before litigation starts
- It cannot assist businesses that have already entered litigation
- The goal is to help existing storefronts remain operating
- Free pro bono legal aid is provided to businesses having lease disputes with landlords
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
0:30:52
When but what about the businesses that are, like, on the foreclosure list right now?
0:30:57
Because there are a couple of those properties that if you look, they are on the foreclosure.
0:31:01
Thankfully, we don't have a lien sale going on right now.
0:31:04
But if if we did, they would be at risk of being vulnerable to that as well.
0:31:10
So how can you engage a business when they're at that point already?
Tian Weinberg
0:31:16
That's a great question.
0:31:17
So storefront vacancy is definitely about opening new storefronts, but it's also about keeping existing storefronts operating.
0:31:23
Our commercial lease assistance program works with folks who are in the process of, you know, lease issues with free legal assistance.
0:31:30
So we can definitely work together to connect those business owners with that free pro bono legal assistance.
0:31:36
The only thing I would say is that it's pre litigation.
0:31:40
So if they are, you know, entering into some sort of litigate that that does stop us from working with them.
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How does the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) coordinate with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to reduce storefront vacancy rates?