Commercial Lease, Implied Consent, Detrimental Reliance

[Gayle Thompson]

I have a month-to-month commercial tenant in Oregon. After 8 years of no rent increases, I verbally requested an increase and he has been paying it since January. I never notified him in writing. We agreed that he needed a commercial lease with a longer term. I gave him a draft to review, but told him I would never enter into an agreement with him until he cleared up some non-rent monies that he owed me. He disagreed with his debt and we met to go over it. He also wanted to discuss some changes to the drafted contract. I agreed with some of his changes, but not all of them, and let him know that I still had no intention of moving forward with the contract until he paid what he owed. We left the meeting at an impasse on his debt and the contract.

A couple of months later, after wildly altering the contract, he signed it, dropped it off at the office, then informed me that I had agreed to it. I had not received the payment I required, nor had I even looked at the altered contract. And I never signed it.

1. He claims that my acceptance of his payments implies that I agreed to his contract. Is there any truth to this?

2. I think that his payments imply that he agreed to the increase. Is this correct?

3. Are there any legal consequences created by my not notifying him in writing of the increase?

4. He claims he could take us to court for Detrimental Reliance and Promissory Estoppel. Is there any way either of these concepts could apply to this situation?