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Issues with Landlord

I will update as things progress.

Rob, are you still with payment depot. A couple years ago we had corresponded on a thread here regarding them. Are you still happy with them any issues? Even though I know the battle is not over I am trying to focus on other things now that I have some peace of mind.

I was with first data and they are terrible. Everyone here likes vantiv and heartland, so I will give them a ring.

Have a good 4th all.
 
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PizzaProdigy said:
I will update as things progress.

Rob, are you still with payment depot. A couple years ago we had corresponded on a thread here regarding them. Are you still happy with them any issues? Even though I know the battle is not over I am trying to focus on other things now that I have some peace of mind.

I was with first data and they are terrible. Everyone here likes vantiv and heartland, so I will give them a ring.

Have a good 4th all.
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Still with payment depot. Very happy. I find the credit card processing is the fastest , no downtime with my pos. Payment depot is a middle man for “first data”. I have sales people come in trying to save me money , but they all leave cause they can’t come close to it.

My all in processing costs are 2.2%-2.3% monthly. One time membership fee of $499 annually. If you would like a contact there , let me know.

Remember , your processing costs vary whether their keyed in(deliveries) or swiped.
Are you using a pos?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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PizzaProdigy said:
Everyone here likes vantiv and heartland, so I will give them a ring.

Have a good 4th all.
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Heartland was great for me for years but to start this year they bent me over and have had their way. I’ve been with them for quite a few years and suddenly without notice they increase my fees by hundreds of dollars a month. Six months into the year and they’ve gotten an extra $5,000 from me. F them. I’ll be switching soon enough.
 
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If a grease trap is required by the city and health department for a restaurant to operate (which most towns and cities in Illinois it is) and your landlord is leasing his premise as a restaurant and the grease trap is already an established part of the plumbing it’s up to the landlord to make sure it’s working before renting out the unit. It’s one thing to have a grease trap full and water coming up to the drains but once You tried to clean it out and still had issues and then the city determined it needs to be replaced this isn’t something you agreed to or could have possibly had knowledge to. I’m pretty sure since you just moved in this would hold in court as well. You already went above and beyond what you should have had to do trying to fix the issue and figure everything out. If previous tenants didn’t maintain still falls on owner of building unlesss otherwise stated in lease. Grease trap is most definitely a part of the plumping when it comes to a restaurant. If he doesn’t have it as operateable and you can’t get liscense through the city how is it a restaurant anymore without required liscenses. That’s false advertising. Better be ready to lawyer up. Don’t pay a dime until issue is resolved.
 
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Don’t pay a dime until issue is resolved.
Agreed. Better to have that money in your account rather than his. Having said that… discuss that w/ your attorney but I’d wait on that check until you do so.
The whole “not part of the plumbing” is comical but we’ve covered that at this point. All I could think of was “So ask him who installs them… an electrician?”
Good luck and B R E A T H E. Easier said than done, I know. We all do. Try anyway! 🙂
 
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PizzaProdigy said:
Hey Pizza Pirates,

Yes, I did. The grease trap is outside behind the building. Now we have water flowing out in the parking lot from the grease trap cover. That happened only after we had it pumped and the sewer plumbing lines cleaned. Mind you the landlord paid for the sewer lines I paid to pump the grease trap. The guy that cleaned out the grease trap told me it had been a long time since it was emptied. Mind you I am outside of Chicago and the weather is in the 100’s this week.
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Hope to hear you’re able to resolve this at low/no cost. What suburb is your new shop located in? Have a lot of friends/family in that area. Will send them your way when you open!
 
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Hey all,

Just figured I would update. My lawyer assured me that I am not liable for the grease trap. He sent a certified letter and email to my Landlord on Monday stating under law that he is responsible for the grease trap/plumbing and if he does not fulfill his obligations within 5 working days of receipt of the letter we will proceed with a lawsuit. My Landlord responded to my attorney that he would forward it to his attorney.

The Landlord came over and tried to put a guilt trip on me. He told me that he regrets renting it to me and if I would accept a buy out which would come out to 60 cents on the dollar of what I have into it (excluding all the labor I have put into it and living off savings for two months now) and he will break my lease. He wants it as is with all the equipment in place. He took out his phone and started taking pics of everything as if we had sealed a deal I put a stop to his b.s. I told him to talk only to my Lawyer from now on until this resolved and to hit the road. He left. The picture taking pissed me off.

My Lawyer also informed him that we will cease any future rent payments until this is resolved and rent payments will be placed in an escrow account which my lawyer will control.

I am still working on the place even though I am in limbo here. That’s it for now guys. TC
 
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PizzaProdigy said:
Hey all,

Just figured I would update. My lawyer assured me that I am not liable for the grease trap. He sent a certified letter and email to my Landlord on Monday stating under law that he is responsible for the grease trap/plumbing and if he does not fulfill his obligations within 5 working days of receipt of the letter we will proceed with a lawsuit. My Landlord responded to my attorney that he would forward it to his attorney.

The Landlord came over and tried to put a guilt trip on me. He told me that he regrets renting it to me and if I would accept a buy out which would come out to 60 cents on the dollar of what I have into it (excluding all the labor I have put into it and living off savings for two months now) and he will break my lease. He wants it as is with all the equipment in place. He took out his phone and started taking pics of everything as if we had sealed a deal I put a stop to his b.s. I told him to talk only to my Lawyer from now on until this resolved and to hit the road. He left. The picture taking pissed me off.

My Lawyer also informed him that we will cease any future rent payments until this is resolved and rent payments will be placed in an escrow account which my lawyer will control.

I am still working on the place even though I am in limbo here. That’s it for now guys. TC

That it for now. If I learn more I will further update
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Good lord. Why doesn’t he just fix it. If fights you and you leave he’s just going to have to fix it for the next guy.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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O
pizzapiratespp said:
Good lord. Why doesn’t he just fix it. If fights you and you leave he’s just going to have to fix it for the next guy.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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PP,

I have no clue. As of yesterday his lawyer has yet to contact mine. Hopefully my lawyers ultimatum will bring him back to earth.

Hope all is well. Later
 
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This blows my mind. If this were my building and that 20-30K repair was all that separated me from a happy tenant and 8K a month in rent this would have been fixed a week ago. The way your landlord is handling this is very sad…but GOOD FOR YOU getting the 3 month guarantee on the plumbing. When he argued the grease trap is not part of the pluming, I would have asked him if it falls under HVAC or Electrical…
 
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Not an encouraging way to begin a long relationship. I suggest that if he offers you a realistic buy-out that you take it.
 
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You pissed him off taking the legal way.

He doesn’t have a leg to stand on. He violated his obligations of the lease for the plumbing. You should be entitled to get back the money you put into it.

He will rent out your location for “key” money to make up the losses or replace the grease trap.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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This is not a good way to start a new business or relationship with land lord, i would take a good deep breath, reassess the situation, and counter offer him to back out, 8 k /month is lot of money unless you have a plan to start your place with million in sales.
you learned a lot from this experience so next time you would be lot wiser in making deal somewhere else… do not get emotionally attached to a place…IMHO
 
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Not an encouraging way to begin a long relationship. I suggest that if he offers you a realistic buy-out that you take it.

Agreed. That alone would be an impetus to walk away. Same with Andrew’s post… get what you can and walk. Not 60%, by the way. I’d see if you can raise that discussion w/ your attorney- the possibility of walking on agreeable terms. He may be able to move the discussion (not that there really ever seemed to be any discussion) in that direction.
Additionally, his comments… demeanor… pics, may make his offer (not at that number) doable from the standpoint of stress, pressure, unhealthy environment, duress, etc.
 
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At this point I’m not willing to walk away with a loss. Actually, I am not ready to walk away at all. I sold my 50% interest in my last shop to my partner to open this place. I have moved one hour away to a new home and enrolled my kid in a new school. If I sell here I will just eat into savings until I find something else. I get what many have said here that I should walk do to the poor relationship but even if he gave me 100% of what I put into it I will still be out over 2 months of personal expenses and much more. I do not see him even giving that at this point.

His attorney called mine and requested that we provide them with invoices and receipts for all equipment. My lawyer told him that it is none of his business. He then told him that he will pay for the equipment and break my lease. My lawyer told him that the only relevant discussion is if he will fix the grease trap/plumbing.

The LL’s attorney told him that he will talk to his client and get back to him tomorrow.

Basically from what I see he wants to pay me for the equipment and not other updates or my expenses or time.
 
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Has your lawyer advised you to take steps to “mitigate” your loss?..Basically this is advising that you must make the required improvements so that your loss does not mount…This sucks especially if you are not in a financial position to do so…Good luck…
 
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There are too many ways this can blow up to consider going forward. Just a couple that come to mind:
  1. End of lease: Virtually no chance the LL will renew.
  2. Time to sell and LL must agree to Lease Assignment. Refuses and blows your sale.
You not only have problems now but you are assured problems exiting when the time comes which puts your entire investment at risk.

I would suggest that you have your lawyer focus on getting you the best exit possible.
 
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A bad LL is like a bad cop… not many things worse.
I respect your “all in” philosophy.
Think about it… all you can do.
By the same token- I think of things like “if you are in a hole, first thing is to stop digging”
Wish I had tons of money to help, or great words of wisdom. I have neither.
 
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Like everyone else before me, I’m going to suggest the same thing… Get out while you can!
As big as your loss might be if you walk out now with getting the best deal you can, it will not compare to future losses down the road. Bodega gave 2 perfect examples to consider. I know this is a hard situation but this has the potential to hurt you way more in the long run than it hurts you now.
Work with your attorney to get the best deal possible. You tried, didn’t work as planned, wrap it up and move on.
Don’t put yourself in a vulnerable position while you can still avoid it. Opportunities will come again, they always do!
The final decision is yours of course, but you might want to distance yourself from being emotionally attached & invested into this so you could see things with a different perspective.
Either way, best of luck!
 
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