Comar Properties Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 9, 2014/07/10) */
Skyline Smiles, LLC, as "Tenant", entered into a Lease dated September 28, with Madison Morgan, LLC, as "Landlord", for the premises consisting of approximately 2,square feet at *** *** *** *** Chicago, Illinois (the
"Premises")The Premises are located within a commercial condominium unit within a mixed use (commercial & residential) condominium building
The Lease provides that the Tenant accepted the Premises in an as-is, whecondition, including the existing HVAC system (ton), demising wall and amp electrical serviceIn addition, the Lease provides that the Tenant be responsible for the maintenance and repair of the Premises, at Tenant's sole cost and expense
The Lease provides that the Landlord install aluminum storefront modifications for the purpose of installing an ADA compliant door in coordination with the Tenant's build out of the PremisesThe Lease provides that the Landlord maintain the common areasThe common areas are controlled by the condominium building condominium association, which such association is managed by Sudler Property Management Company ("Sudler")The Landlord pays the monthly assessment for the condominium associationIssues concerning the common areas are communicated to Sudler
With respect to the allegation that the air conditioning ("HVAC") malfunctioned in May 2013, the Landlord's agent, COMAR Properties, received a phone call from the Tenant complaining about the HVACAlthough the repair and maintenance of the HVAC is a Tenant responsibility, the Landlord's agent, COMAR, immediately sent its HVAC contractor to review the HVAC unitThe Landlord replaced the HVAC system with a new system, at Landlord's cost and expenseThe Landlord has not requested reimbursement nor has it requested contribution for the cost of the replacementThe size of the HVAC system required ordering of the system and installation (not a stock item)
In connection with the allegation regarding delayed installation of the ADA door, the Lease required that the Landlord coordinate the installation of the door with Tenant's build out of the PremisesThe Landlord's agent, COMAR, maintains numerous e-mails evidencing that COMAR was in constant communication with the Tenant's general contractor, regarding the status of Tenant's build out and timing for installation of the ADA doorThe door was installed pursuant to specifications
Further, in connection with the allegation regarding the failure of the ADA door to slide open, the door was checked at installation and again at Tenant's requestThe door swung open and closed properly at installationAlthough the maintenance and repair of the Premises is a Tenant responsibility (including doors and door frames), the Landlord's agent, COMAR, had its maintenance personnel review and adjust the door, at Landlord's cost and expenseThe Landlord has not requested reimbursement nor has it requested contribution for the cost of the adjustment
Regarding the allegation of the office flooding incident in February 2014, the burst pipe incident occurred in the common areaTenant contacted Landlord's agent, COMAR, by telephoneCOMAR immediately contacted Sudler, and Sudler arranged for immediate attention to the burst pipe
Regarding the allegation of the gas leak smell in February 2014, Tenant contacted Landlord's agent, COMAR, by telephoneCOMAR immediately contacted Peoples Gas to investigate the gas odorPeoples Gas reviewed the gas odor, and at Peoples Gas recommendation, COMAR hired an HVAC contractor to investigate and review the HVAC for the gas odor, on two (2) separate occasionsThe HVAC contractor did not find any issue concerning the HVAC regarding the gas odor, including a finding of no leaks and no loose fittingsThe Lease provides that the maintenance and repair of the Premises is a Tenant responsibility (including the HVAC system)The Landlord has not requested reimbursement nor has it requested contribution for the cost of the HVAC contractor investigation and review
Regarding the allegation that ADA door was leaking rain water into the Premises in May 2014, such leaking was due to the door sweeper being worn as a result of wear and tearAlthough the maintenance and repair of the Premises is a Tenant responsibility (including the doors and door frames), the Landlord's agent, COMAR, had the contractor who installed the door review and replace the door sweepers located on the interior and exterior of the door, at Landlord's cost and expenseThe Landlord has not requested reimbursement nor has it requested contribution for the cost of the adjustment
Regarding the allegation of the sewage back flow in May 2014, the Tenant called Landlord's agent, COMAR, by telephoneCOMAR immediately contacted Sudler, and Sudler arranged for immediate attention to the back flowCOMAR has been in continuous contact with Tenant, Tenant's plumber, Tenant's general contractor, Landlord's plumber, Sudler, Sudler's plumber and Sudler's engineering company regarding the review of the back flow issue and remedy of the back flow issueThe consensus of the plumbing and engineering professionals is that due to severe rains on May 13; the City of Chicago sewer system was not able to handle the high rate of storm waterNotwithstanding, it has been determined by all of the plumbers that no blockage exists in the plumbing lines, and that the best course of action is the installation of a check valveThe Landlord's agent, COMAR, received consent from the condominium association, as communicated by Sudler, to install the check valve in the common area plumbing linesThe installation of the check valve was completed this morning, July 10th
The Landlord has timely responded to each of Tenant's concerns, and remains in constant communication with the Tenant regarding this back flow issueIn addition, Landlord has undertaken the above described maintenance obligations of the Tenant as set forth in the LeaseMoreover, Landlord has included Tenant's general contractor and plumber to be present and participate in meetings with Landlord's plumber and the condominium association plumber and engineerAllegations regarding unresponsiveness are unfounded
Please note that the Tenant has hired counsel and sent to Landlord a demand dated June 20, for rent abatementThe Landlord's counsel timely responded to the demandNo further communication has been received from Tenant's counsel
We request that the Revdex.com contact us if additional information is required
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 11, 2014/07/18) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Even though we have had many issues in the past for the purposes of this complaint I will primarily focus on the flooding issues
Overall, the Landlord has been more responsive to our communications over the last monthI appreciate the increased communication, and hope it continues into the futureThe Landlord, however, only became more responsive after I was forced to retain an attorney, who then sent a demand letter to the LandlordSuch an action would not have been necessary if Landlord had previously been responsive and met his obligations under the contents of the LeaseMoreover, despite the increased responsiveness, I feel that the flooding issues HAVE NOT BEEN sufficiently remediedThe Landlord has repeatedly mentioned that he needs to get approval from the Condo Association in order to make certain repairsHowever, the Lease clearly states that it is the Landlord's sole responsibility to repair and maintain the common areas of the buildingNowhere does the Lease provide that the Landlord has to receive approval from the Condo Association in order to maintain or repair the common areasIn fact, there is no reference to the Condo Association contained anywhere in the LeaseAccordingly, any arrangement between the Landlord and the condominium association is unrelated to the Landlord's obligations under the LeaseAny further delay to the necessary repairs is unacceptable
History
The first flood in February of occurred from a pipe that burst which is supposed to be turned off with each use, and therefore should not be on at all during the winter, when we had extremely cold weather, the pipe naturally burst as it was filled with waterAlthough it was behind a pillar that was determined to be a common area, the landlord did not respond to any of my complaints and I paid out of my pocket to have the plumber not only fix the pipe, but also further insulate it, as well as the dry wall to be fixed around it
The door sweeper being worn does not suffice as an appropriate response in my opinion, as our office has only been open for year, With every rain this spring water has flooded through our front door (which the landlord built under agreement to our lease), this does not strike me as a door sweeper issue, but rather an issue with the door itselfDoes the landlord insist we need to replace the sweeper every spring in order to avoid more flooding through that area?
We have had four total floods:
Fresh water flood- feb 14th, (pipe burst and through front door)
sewage water flood - may 20th, (up the drains and from rains through the front door)
sewage water flood - june 23rd, (up the drains)
sewage water flood - july 12th, (up the drains)
The Landlord and his counsel argue that the City of Chicago could not handle the storm waters and that was the reason for the backups, that could not be further from the truthDuring all of these floods, only the businesses within our building were affected, no other building along the street or in the area was flooded at allTherefore, The second sewage flood in may, the consensus was NOT that there was a high amount of storm water rather the actual consensus from a plumber I independently hired and FROM THE LANDLORD'S OWN PLUMBER is that the building's PLUMBING DOES NOT FOLLOW CITY CODEThe pitch (or angulation) of the entire plumbing underneath our space in the parking garage is backpitched or not enough pitched so that there is backflow and problems arising with our drains when there is even a little rainThe Code in Chicago is determined to have a 1/8" pitch, there are large sections of the pipe under our space that do not follow that code
Regarding the backflow valve: Even after the backflow valve was placed on July 10th, the rented space had flooding issues seeping from the common areas, which once again force our dental office to be rebuilt as we cannot have mold in our office! The backflow valve did not solve the issue!
With four floods in the span of months primarily from common areas not being up to code and from common area problems, and with our office having to be closed for two months during reconstruction on two separate occasions, requiring an additional reconstruct, this issue has been one that has not allowed me to practice business in a safe and usable areaI am paying rent for a virtually unusable spaceThe landlord maintains that his "hands are tied" and he "can't fix the problem as he needs approval from the condos"
The landlord has also withheld information, as many employees of the businesses neighboring us have maintained that flooding has been a constant issueIn fact for the fourth flood (July 12th), Pockets (a neighboring business in our building) also floodedThe landlord also verbally confirmed that "the condo association have been having a flooding issue, but have ignored it thus far"
Now they maintain the condo association is working on fixing the plumbing but with no date and no imperative in sightWe have had to rebuild our space twice, with one more rebuild necessaryWith Sewage water, they have to cut out the walls feet above where damage was done! Our business insurance coverage is threatening to drop us as they see this as a potentially uninsurable space
I will not retract this Revdex.com claim until the plumbing is fixed to code, and I am ensured that no further flooding will occur due to inadequacies in the building's plumbing system