Sears, Roebuck and Co. is seeking almost $600,000 in fees they allege were overpaid and incorrectly calculated by employees of Grove Farm Land Corp. Sears lawyer Adrian W. Rosehill of Gerson and Hieneman said the amounts are an aggregate of
Sears, Roebuck and Co. is seeking almost $600,000 in fees they allege were overpaid and incorrectly calculated by employees of Grove Farm Land Corp.
Sears lawyer Adrian W. Rosehill of Gerson and Hieneman said the amounts are an aggregate of two separate leases, an original lease dating back to 1993, and an expansion lease entered into in 2000.
Sears is asking for the total amount due on both leases plus 12 percent interest in an amount to be established either at a hearing or trial in the future, according to the complaint.
Sears attorneys filed the suit May 31 in Fifth Circuit Court on Kaua‘i. The suit seeks to find Grove Farm in breach of both leases.
Sears, Roebuck and Co. occupy two separate retail spaces at Kukui Grove Center, which is owned by Grove Farm.
Sears officials say they discovered in February what they see as an overpayment of $228,940.13 from April 1993 to March 2003 in their original lease. They say this is due to an error in calculation of percentage fees made by Grove Farm or their managing agents, the suit claims.
Grove Farm required Sears officials to pay rent or .75 percent of the tenant’s net sales during a six-month period if that amount exceeded $23,500.02.
The complaint alleges that Sears also overpaid $368,154.24 from 2001 to 2003 on the expanded-space lease.
As terms of that lease, Sears was required to pay 4 percent of the tenant’s net sales during a 12-month calendar period if that amount exceeded the minimum rent.
According to the complaint, Sears requested reimbursement, but Grove Farm failed to provide reimbursement.
According to the suit, an independent auditor from RSE International, confirmed the overpayments in November, 2004. Rosehill said the complaint spoke for itself. He said the lawsuit was out for service to Grove Farm, and he was not certain if they had received it yet.
Dennis Lombardi, identified by Grove Farm as their legal counsel, said he had no comment on the matter. In August 2000, Sears expanded into a second, 42,150 square-foot space formerly occupied by a Woolworth store.
