The Wilton Companies

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[redacted] thinks that the rent is not a reason for bad business and that is correct, but as a small business in these hard time, big companies like Wilton just ask ask ask and never give back.  They charge during the year for every little item they do on the property, and the rent and all other bills they send, pile up. Sooner then later we can and will not be able to pay.   In the last message [redacted] wrote we have been in business for 5 years and yes that is true, but the business has been here over 25 years.  The original AC units have been on the premise since that time.  And they keep bothering us with Maintenance for those units.  Why should we even maintain them if they are half working. When we signed the contract to take over for the next 10 years it was the biggest mistake anyone could ever get into with Wilton.  With the Rent getting bigger and the more fee's they charge.
Regards,
[redacted]

src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=1edb61cc4f&view=att&t...⇄ alt="cid:251214621@04012010-1F47" />
 
 
Dar [redacted] - Thank you for your letter.  The Wilton Companies view each of our commercial tenants as a customer.  We seek to live up to all of our obligations as landlord with each of our tenants within the parameters of our mutual lease obligations.  In reviewing this particular tenant's complaint to you, we make the following observations with regard to the statements made by our tenant in the complaint:
 
1.  The business in question has been a tenant for five years, not 25 years as stated in the complaint. 
 
2.  The tenant and I have talked on several occasions since he first contacted us via letter received on April 9, 2014 (not March 1, 2014 as stated in the complaint).  He just does not have the answer he wants from me at this time. 
 
3.  Rents escalate pursuant to the terms of the lease between the tenant and Wilton.  We do not have a right to raise rents except as provided in the lease document.
 
4.  Pursuant to the terms of the lease, maintenance and repair of the HVAC unit(s) serving the tenant's premises are the responsibility of the tenant.  This is common practice in retail and industrial leases.  That said, the tenant has never expressed any complaints on the HVAC unit(s) serving his premises in any of my discussions with him.  A review of our records from the last three years and my discussion with our maintenance supervisor indicate we have no complaints on record or in the recent memory of my maintenance supervisor regarding the tenant's HVAC unit(s).  Your letter is the first time I've been made aware of any HVAC concerns.
 
5.  To my knowledge, all other HVAC units in the shopping center are not new and were not replaced by Wilton.  Only one HVAC unit has been replaced by Wilton at the shopping center in recent years and that unit was replaced because the existing unit in a vacant space was not functioning and Wilton installed a new HVAC unit for a new tenant.  We inspect HVAC units serving a space at the commencement of any new lease to determine that the units are working and to make any necessary repairs.
 
As is our standard operating procedure, when this tenant first contacted us asking for a rent reduction, we requested that he send us financial statements (either income and expense statements + balance sheets OR federal income tax returns) for the past two full calendar years as well as month-by-month income and expense statements through March 2014.  Although we received the tenant's 2012 and 2013 tax returns to review, we never did receive complete, detailed 2014 monthly income and expense statements as requested.  Nonetheless, our review of the 2012 and 2013 tax returns suggests to us that rent is not the basis for the tenant's current financial concerns.  We have suggested to the tenant that he work with his CPA to understand and address any business matters that may be causing his financial concerns.  I have even offered to call the tenant's CPA directly to discuss our review of the matter.  While I understand the tenant is looking for a quick answer, from a landlord's perspective these kinds of requests take time as we attempt to glean all the facts and to fully and carefully understand the entire situation (in addition to our daily obligations to other tenants).
 
While we are extremely sympathetic to our small-business tenants who are going through difficult times, we also have a fiduciary obligation to our investors that we must consider when dealing with these kinds of requests.  Unfortunately, I cannot always honor a tenant request of this sort.
 
We will continue to monitor this tenant's situation and I will be back in touch with the tenant once I talk with his CPA.
 
Thank you for your interest and assistance in this matter.
 
 
[redacted]
Vice President
The Wilton Companies
[redacted]  [redacted]  
[redacted]

Review: Been with Wilton Company for over 25 years. I have been trying to reach the person who deals with my business for business issues for over 2 months, I left him messages and no return. My concern with Wilton company is they keep raising rent and business is not doing well, and they know this. Wilton Company wants us to maintain our AC units 2 of them and they are over 25 years old. And They don't want to replace them for us. 1 unit only has AC and has a very Bad leak, other unit only has heat and does not work that well. We can not and will not replace them because we cant afford it. All other AC units in our building have been replaced with New ones. And we did not get a option to get new ones when we signed the lease. Wilton raises the rent every year and business is doing worse and worse. We have more then 5 years left in our contract and signed for 10 years and been with for over 25. I want Wilton to know that its hard enough being a small business right now.

We as a business stride to work hard to keep the business going, and if we cant we will close the doors. over 25 years in service.Desired Settlement: I would like new AC and heating unit. And Rent Lowered to desired amount That was asked for from [redacted]

Business

Response:

Dar [redacted] - Thank you for your letter. The Wilton Companies view each of our commercial tenants as a customer. We seek to live up to all of our obligations as landlord with each of our tenants within the parameters of our mutual lease obligations. In reviewing this particular tenant's complaint to you, we make the following observations with regard to the statements made by our tenant in the complaint:

1. The business in question has been a tenant for five years, not 25 years as stated in the complaint.

2. The tenant and I have talked on several occasions since he first contacted us via letter received on April 9, 2014 (not March 1, 2014 as stated in the complaint). He just does not have the answer he wants from me at this time.

3. Rents escalate pursuant to the terms of the lease between the tenant and Wilton. We do not have a right to raise rents except as provided in the lease document.

4. Pursuant to the terms of the lease, maintenance and repair of the HVAC unit(s) serving the tenant's premises are the responsibility of the tenant. This is common practice in retail and industrial leases. That said, the tenant has never expressed any complaints on the HVAC unit(s) serving his premises in any of my discussions with him. A review of our records from the last three years and my discussion with our maintenance supervisor indicate we have no complaints on record or in the recent memory of my maintenance supervisor regarding the tenant's HVAC unit(s). Your letter is the first time I've been made aware of any HVAC concerns.

5. To my knowledge, all other HVAC units in the shopping center are not new and were not replaced by Wilton. Only one HVAC unit has been replaced by Wilton at the shopping center in recent years and that unit was replaced because the existing unit in a vacant space was not functioning and Wilton installed a new HVAC unit for a new tenant. We inspect HVAC units serving a space at the commencement of any new lease to determine that the units are working and to make any necessary repairs.

As is our standard operating procedure, when this tenant first contacted us asking for a rent reduction, we requested that he send us financial statements (either income and expense statements + balance sheets OR federal income tax returns) for the past two full calendar years as well as month-by-month income and expense statements through March 2014. Although we received the tenant's 2012 and 2013 tax returns to review, we never did receive complete, detailed 2014 monthly income and expense statements as requested. Nonetheless, our review of the 2012 and 2013 tax returns suggests to us that rent is not the basis for the tenant's current financial concerns. We have suggested to the tenant that he work with his CPA to understand and address any business matters that may be causing his financial concerns. I have even offered to call the tenant's CPA directly to discuss our review of the matter. While I understand the tenant is looking for a quick answer, from a landlord's perspective these kinds of requests take time as we attempt to glean all the facts and to fully and carefully understand the entire situation (in addition to our daily obligations to other tenants).

While we are extremely sympathetic to our small-business tenants who are going through difficult times, we also have a fiduciary obligation to our investors that we must consider when dealing with these kinds of requests. Unfortunately, I cannot always honor a tenant request of this sort.

We will continue to monitor this tenant's situation and I will be back in touch with the tenant once I talk with his CPA.

Thank you for your interest and assistance in this matter.

Vice President

The Wilton Companies

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

[redacted] thinks that the rent is not a reason for bad business and that is correct, but as a small business in these hard time, big companies like Wilton just ask ask ask and never give back. They charge during the year for every little item they do on the property, and the rent and all other bills they send, pile up. Sooner then later we can and will not be able to pay. In the last message [redacted] wrote we have been in business for 5 years and yes that is true, but the business has been here over 25 years. The original AC units have been on the premise since that time. And they keep bothering us with Maintenance for those units. Why should we even maintain them if they are half working. When we signed the contract to take over for the next 10 years it was the biggest mistake anyone could ever get into with Wilton. With the Rent getting bigger and the more fee's they charge.

Regards,