MARION, Ill. - Attorneys for the struggling tenants at Marion's Illinois Star Centre Mall were mum during Tuesday's hearing - if they were indeed present in court at all - and the tenants lost big time as the judge in the federal case sided with the mall's owners.
At the hearing Tuesday (December 18) in the federal court in East St. Louis, the federal judge ruled in favor of the mall, allowing owners to begin vacating unexpired leases of the tenants...meaning that the mall can boot out viable businesses, not something that's good for anyone.
At the brief hearing, the mall's attorney (Robert Eggmann) noted that none of the mall's tenants were objecting to the motion calling for the vacating. Why, however, is the odd part, as it's come to the attention of our correspondent that the remaining tenants are definitely distressed about the situation.
"The mall didn’t just give us a 30-day letter to be out before Christmas," a tenant advised; "now they are giving letters saying that we owe big amounts in rent. They came by with one (for our store) saying that I owed over $12,000 in rent all the way back to July of 2017. Do they think that their checks are not in my bank statements and I am that stupid???"
The tenant advised that there were definite problems for remaining tenants as regards utilities for their businesses. This followed Eggmann's statement during court that "tenants won't be forced out of the mall, but would be required to cover utilities for their space."
Apparently, Eggmann and the mall have a funny way of terming things, as there are lots of different ways to "force" tenants out.
More to come...be watching.