I signed a one year lease for a commercial property in march 2022. It’s a two story building- bar downstairs/apt upstairs. The building owner is a local attorney. I (regretfully)spent $50k and the first year renovating the bar myself, and opened Feb 2023. I wanted to ensure a chance at ROI, so I asked the owner to extend the lease to three years. He agreed, updated the lease, and we both signed. In the lease it states that I must apply for and maintain a valid liquor license within 14 days of signing the lease. Since I was renovating, I told him I would not apply until I was ready to open. He agreed. I opened in Feb 2023 and closed in Nov 2023, letting the liquor license lapse (with plans to reopen) Fast forward to Jan 2024 when a frozen pipe burst in the upstairs apt that I had nothing to do with and his maintenance guys had been working on in previous weeks. Temps reached subzero, and they had the furnace turned off since it was unoccupied. Since I was closed, I only went there every couple of days to check on things. The water had filled the upstairs apartment until the weight caused most of the ceiling to collapse into my bar and then the water continued to run for another day. Total loss. He stated in an email that it was their fault but it was my fault for not catching it sooner and if I’d been open the damage wouldn’t have been so bad. He had his “handyman” repair the damage over the next 7-8 weeks. I made the decision to not throw good money after bad and walked away. The repairs were terrible, all of my inventory was lost. Neon, TV’s, karaoke, sound system, supplies…in total loss that he said wasn’t his problem. Important note: I had let the insurance lapse when I closed. He claims that’s on me, and I argued that had my insurance covered the loss, they would have subrogated and sued him because his worker was negligent for turning the heat off in an unoccupied apartment, in the winter. I recently found out that I have a judgment against me for $14k. Evidently he sued me and won by default. I was never served and knew nothing about the case. I want to file a motion to vacate the judgment and sue him for my losses but he’s been a local attorney for 50+ years and I fear the good ole boy system . Advice? Location: Illinois.