Found's landlord sues Found for unpaid rent, lease-breaking ... and "slander" here on DSLJ
The owners of the Gorin Building at 255 Elm Street have sued the owners of Found, a used-clothing consignment shop that closed at the end of January.
The suit alleges that Found owes $21,981.42 in unpaid back rent, that they abandoned the property leaving it in "disarray", and that they broke their lease which obligates them to pay rent through the end of August 2017. ($9472.50/month through 8/31/16, then $9804.03/month through 8/31/17)
So far, this sounds like an ordinary business dispute, but the landlord also twice cites my January 28 post to DSLJ:
COUNT III: Fraudulent Transfer
20. Upon information and belief, the defendants are seeking to use the funds and assets of the defendant Found to start a new company or to establish Found in another location. (See Davis Square Live Journal, dated January 28, 2016, attached hereto as Exhibit "C")
and
COUNT V: Slander/Defamation - Fred Bennett
29. Upon information and belief, on or about January 28, 2016, while in the process of abandoning the Premises, defendant Fred Bennett told a third-party that the plaintiff was "a greedy jerk who jacked up the rent, and is not a good person." (See Exhibit C)
30. The statement by Bennett is factually untrue.
31. Additional comments on the community webpage attached as Exhibit C demonstrate that such defamatory words of defendant Fred Bennett held the plaintiff up to contempt, hatred, scorn, or ridicule or tended to impair his standing in the community, at least to his discredit in the minds of a considerable and respectable class in the community.
I became aware of this lawsuit when a representative from Safety Insurance Company came to my door at 12:55 pm on Tuesday afternoon, May 24. He wanted me to sign an affidavit stating that I made the DSLJ post cited above, and asked me some questions about the appearance of the person whom I quoted in that post. I declined to sign the affidavit, which was my right, but the Safety rep said that this may result in me being subpoenaed as a witness.
He told me that the owners of Found had cancelled their insurance policy the same day as my DSLJ post, and he was very interested in determining whether Fred Bennett had cancelled the policy before or after making the statement quoted above.
If anyone wants to follow along, the case number is 1681CV00413, Misujo Realty LLC vs Davis Square Consignment, LLC Doing Business as Found, Fred Bennett, Meredith Bennett, Defendants, and Eastern Bank NA, Trustee Defendant. The complaint was filed in Middlesex Superior Court which is located in Woburn. You can follow the status of the case by filling out this form, but the content of the filed documents is not online. So far, the defendants have not answered the complaint. Their deadline for doing so is June 15.
The suit alleges that Found owes $21,981.42 in unpaid back rent, that they abandoned the property leaving it in "disarray", and that they broke their lease which obligates them to pay rent through the end of August 2017. ($9472.50/month through 8/31/16, then $9804.03/month through 8/31/17)
So far, this sounds like an ordinary business dispute, but the landlord also twice cites my January 28 post to DSLJ:
COUNT III: Fraudulent Transfer
20. Upon information and belief, the defendants are seeking to use the funds and assets of the defendant Found to start a new company or to establish Found in another location. (See Davis Square Live Journal, dated January 28, 2016, attached hereto as Exhibit "C")
and
COUNT V: Slander/Defamation - Fred Bennett
29. Upon information and belief, on or about January 28, 2016, while in the process of abandoning the Premises, defendant Fred Bennett told a third-party that the plaintiff was "a greedy jerk who jacked up the rent, and is not a good person." (See Exhibit C)
30. The statement by Bennett is factually untrue.
31. Additional comments on the community webpage attached as Exhibit C demonstrate that such defamatory words of defendant Fred Bennett held the plaintiff up to contempt, hatred, scorn, or ridicule or tended to impair his standing in the community, at least to his discredit in the minds of a considerable and respectable class in the community.
I became aware of this lawsuit when a representative from Safety Insurance Company came to my door at 12:55 pm on Tuesday afternoon, May 24. He wanted me to sign an affidavit stating that I made the DSLJ post cited above, and asked me some questions about the appearance of the person whom I quoted in that post. I declined to sign the affidavit, which was my right, but the Safety rep said that this may result in me being subpoenaed as a witness.
He told me that the owners of Found had cancelled their insurance policy the same day as my DSLJ post, and he was very interested in determining whether Fred Bennett had cancelled the policy before or after making the statement quoted above.
If anyone wants to follow along, the case number is 1681CV00413, Misujo Realty LLC vs Davis Square Consignment, LLC Doing Business as Found, Fred Bennett, Meredith Bennett, Defendants, and Eastern Bank NA, Trustee Defendant. The complaint was filed in Middlesex Superior Court which is located in Woburn. You can follow the status of the case by filling out this form, but the content of the filed documents is not online. So far, the defendants have not answered the complaint. Their deadline for doing so is June 15.