Owner Sues for Rent Before Going to Prison

A commercial tenant in Palm Beach County, Fla. thought it was getting off the hook when the owner of its building got sentenced to prison. Unfortunately, the tenant was wrong. James Batmasian, a Florida commercial real estate owner and developer, was recently convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to serve eight months in a South Carolina prison. While most convicts being sent to prison would spend their last day of freedom with family and friends, Mr. Batmasian spent his last day at the courthouse filing a lawsuit against one of his tenants for failure to pay rent.
In his complaint, Batmasian alleges that Rolls-Royce & Bentley Specialists, LLC and its owner Marcus Tuerk, stopped paying rent and owes almost $42,000. Tuerk, who acknowledged that he failed to pay rent and says he plans to “pay it back,” will have to do so very soon, as Batmasian started serving his rather short prison sentence on Sept. 30, 2008.

Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel