Haas Hall Academy must pay $41,540 in rent owed to Paradigm Building LLC from 2015, the Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed in a ruling Wednesday.
The school also owes $50,000 in attorneys fees related to the lower court case.
For more than a year, starting in 2013, Haas Hall Academy Superintendent Martin Schoppmeyer and Paradigm Building President Tracy Hoskins exchanged messages about the school's desire to renew its lease in the Paradigm Building, according to the Court of Appeals' summary of the case.
Schoppmeyer requested a renewal contract and indicated that he would sign it, but objected to what was ultimately drafted. The lease was set to expire in 2014, but the school continued to occupy the building afterward.
In 2015, Schoppmeyer informed Hoskins that the school would vacate the property. Paradigm Building officials claimed the school had already renewed its lease for three years -- through July 31, 2017 -- but school officials said no lease had been renewed.
Paradigm Building sued Haas Hall, arguing that its lease had been renewed. Washington County Circuit Judge Beth Storey Bryan ruled that Haas Hall had exercised its three-year option to renew the lease based on witness testimony, according to court records. The judge ordered $20,770 per month in late fees for August and September 2015 -- two months after the school vacated the building.
Haas Hall appealed Bryan's ruling, arguing that she erred in determining that the school had renewed its lease.
Judge David Glover wrote Wednesday in the Court of Appeals order that the standard of review of Bryan's determination is whether Bryan's findings were "clearly erroneous or clearly against the preponderance of the evidence." Glover wrote that the intent behind the lease renewal conversations was a question of fact and, given their contents, the Court of Appeals cannot declare that the circuit "clearly erred in ruling that the renewal had been accomplished."
Paradigm Building attorneys filed a cross-appeal to reverse the lower court's ruling calculating the rent the school owed to the company and to reverse the lower court's ruling that waived late fees accrued during the original lease.
Bryan had used a rate of $1.55 per square foot contained in the lease's section for optional rent terms, then multiplied it by 13,400 square feet to determine that the school owed $20,770 per month. Bryan then denied Paradigm's request for an annual 3 percent increase, which the Court of Appeals agreed with, arguing that no provision for other prices or increases is contained in the lease.
Glover also agreed with Bryan's finding that the company had not billed Haas Hall for late fees, meaning it had waived its right to the late fees.
A nonwaiver clause in the lease referring to potential lease violations doesn't protect the company from the court's finding because the clause refers to future, not past, violations.
Metro on 02/09/2017