Way Behind on Keeping Up : Mall Tenants Dismayed by Big Maintenance Bills for Past Years; Some Face Eviction for Refusing to Pay

Oral surgeon Charles Hasse says he might be better off going into the maintenance business.

Hasse, a Medical Building tenant in Irvine’s Arbor Village, has been socked with a $10,716 bill to cover maintenance costs dating back to 1985.

Cushman & Wakefield, managing agent for Rancon Corp., which owns Arbor Village on Jeffrey Road, told tenants last June that property maintenance fees charged from 1985 through 1987 were not sufficient to cover costs, and Cushman & Wakefield was seeking extra money.

“That’s $300 a month,” Hasse said. “They’re charging me $300 a month for flowers.”

For Dr. Richard Kidder, an optometrist in the building, the charge was about $7,000, and for dentist Ronald Watanabe, $5,000.

Tenants Have Paid a Fee

The tenants’ main complaint is that they already have paid a maintenance fee. Hasse said $912 of his $3,200 monthly rent for a 1,600-square-foot office goes for maintenance of public areas, which includes landscaping, restrooms and the center’s parking lot.

Ray Storaasli, an asset manager for Rancho California-based Rancon, said the added maintenance fees were necessary, and his firm expects tenants to pay or face eviction. He declined to elaborate on why new fees were needed to cover past costs.

Storaasli said an independent audit requested by tenants showed that the maintenance fees were not excessive. Slight reductions were made in the bills as a result of the audit, he added.

But several tenants dispute the results of the audit, saying they did not have a chance to review it.

“I don’t know where the maintenance fees could come from. I wasn’t running a fast-food restaurant, and my patients weren’t exactly dirtying the parking lot,” Hasse said.

Hasse said he will face eviction rather than pay the late fees.

“What gets us is that they’re billing us two years later,” said Dr. Richard A. Kidder, an optometrist in the center who said he also will not pay the fees. “I certainly wouldn’t send revised bills to my patients two years later.”

Suit Filed Against Tenants

Cushman & Wakefield filed suit last week in Municipal Court against Hasse and several other tenants who failed to follow a three-day, pay-or-quit order issued last month.

Several other tenants interviewed Monday, including retail operators in the village, said they chose to pay the fees rather than risk eviction.

“I had to pay it. I can’t afford to close this shop,” said Mary Agle, owner of Arbor Frame Shop. Agle said her maintenance bill was less than $1,000, “which is a lot of frames for a small shop like mine.”

Watanabe, the dentist, said he paid “under protest.” He said he plans to take legal action to get the money back.

“If my practice were shut down, I’d lose my patients and my livelihood,” Watanabe said.

Abbie Duffy, property manager for the center, said she hasn’t been a popular person since starting at the center last summer.

“Nobody likes somebody who collects money. I’m just doing my job. We all have a job to do.”