Found's landlord sues Found for unpaid rent, lease-breaking ... and "slander" here on DSLJ

[ron_newman]

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 JanuaryThe 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

Comments

[clevernonsense]

Any word from the people who were owed money for goods left there? (I had a pretty bad feeling about that)

[ron_newman]

I haven't been in touch with the consigners, but we should expect a story from Scout Somerville magazine soon about this.

[agharta75]

Not again :-(

[ron_newman]

At least this time, I'm at most a potential witness, not a defendant.

[agharta75]

We're getting the band back together.

[jducoeur]

a greedy jerk who jacked up the rent, and is not a good person

Seriously? They're bringing defamation charges over blatant and obvious opinion? (Moreover, over hearsay of such an opinion?) Unless the "jacked up the rent" part is factually false, I hope that this will get laughed out of court...

[ron_newman]

Here's the rent history, from the leases that were attached as exhibits.

Initial lease:
9/1/2011-8/31/2012: $8000/month
9/1/12-8/31/13: $8500
9/1/13-8/31/14: $9000

Lease extension:
9/1/14-8/31/15: $9157
9/1/15-8/31/16: $9472.50
9/1/16-8/31/17: $9804.03

Is that "jacking"? That's a matter of opinion. In any event, it is a series of rent increases mutually agreed upon in writing, years in advance.

RE: Goods

[achinhibitor]

The only factual content I can see in that sentence is "jacking" which requires that the rent actually increased. But it does seem that the rent did increase...

[ron_newman]

In their answer to the complaint, the defendants state their intent to move to strike Exhibit C, my January 28 LiveJournal post and comments, from the case because it "sets forward unverified, undocumented, and inadmissible hearsay from an unverified source."

[pywaket]

Looking at the exhibits, the rent increases actually seem fairly reasonable to me. It comes out to 3% or so per year. Most people in Somerville (or in any desirable metropolitan area for that matter) would be thrilled with rent increases that small.

Plus, unless the exhibits are outright fabrications (which would be crazy to do for someone filing a lawsuit), Found folks appear to have agreed to this.

In short, I hope the landlords win. This just reinforces my opinion that the people running Found are simply a bunch of assholes. Especially considering how they've treated the people who left them things. Add the fact that they are starting up a new business elsewhere. This just seems like a way to screw over a bunch of people (I'd love to hear what the former employees of the DS location think of them).

[ron_newman]

He said he wanted to reopen elsewhere, but that doesn't mean he's actually going to do so. The Found website has since then been taken down, and both their Facebook and Twitter pages are gone as well.

Since he and his wife seem to be screwing the consigners, I have no sympathy for them. We'll know a little more when the Scout Somerville article comes out.

[pywaket]

Using the address the owners of Found, Fred and Meredith Bennett which was located by elramsay and posted here: http://davis-square.livejournal.com/3641370.html?thread=37766170#t37766170, I looked it up on Google:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/230-Dudley-Rd-Newton-MA-02459/56536534_zpid/

Considering they can afford this house, I have zero sympathy at all:

You can afford a $10 million house? You can afford $10K a month rent for your "boutique", and you can sure as hell afford to pay the people who you stole clothing from.

[ron_newman]

7 bedrooms, 8 baths, 6 fireplaces, 5 carriage bays?!

Goods

[ext_3505528]

These are criminals. They have so many new with tags merchandise of mine and i have no idea how to get back. Has anyone had any luck getting their goods back or their $$ for sales? It feels like theft. A person looked me in the eye end of December/beginning of January and took a ton of Marc Jacobs dresses among other designer goods that were new. I'm so upset. I called AG's office but not sure what I can do. I won't give up. I've had a few other people reach out to me after a post a few months ago and there's a ton of people in the same boat.

RE: Goods

[achinhibitor]

You can file a lawsuit, I expect. But really, the thing to do is hire a down-and-dirty lawyer and ask what your best strategy is.

RE: Goods

[ext_3505528]

Thanks so much

RE: Goods

[pywaket]

Consider small claims court as well. AFAIK the limit is up to $5000, and it'll just cost you the filing fee, which is negligible . I suspect you'd win a judgement, and at the very least, you'd cost them time or money as either they or an an attorney they're paying would need to show up for the hearing.

A complaint with the AG's office wouldn't be a bad idea either...