Milwaukee business owner sued for 7th time this year

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Milwaukee business owner William Minahan and his company, Building Committee Inc., are facing their seventh lawsuit of the year.

Minahan and BCI, a design and construction consulting firm, have been successfully sued six times in Milwaukee County Court in 2012 for a combined total of about $541,000. Minahan filed only one defense, when BCI’s landlord sought eviction, and that defense was unsuccessful. The company was evicted from its Milwaukee offices April 10.

In the other five lawsuits, Minahan either didn’t respond after being served with a summons or couldn’t be found by the court.

The seventh lawsuit, filed Aug. 2 by Milwaukee-based Hallease Inc., seeks $220,272.98 in missed payments, remaining balances and wear-and-tear charges related to eight vehicles leased to BCI or Minahan at various times from 2006-11.

According to Hallease’s list of damages, Minahan personally owes more than $108,455.34 on a 2010 Maserati Quattroporte. The remaining $111,817.64, Hallease claims, is owed on seven vehicles leased for BCI use: a 2007 Chevy Malibu, a 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander, a 2010 Honda Pilot, a 2011 Chevy Impala, a 2010 GMC Yukon, a 2011 Toyota 4Runner and a 2011 Nissan 370Z.

As of Thursday, Minahan had yet to respond to Hallease’s claims.

Joseph Cincotta, who represented Minahan and BCI in the eviction, declined to comment.

Minahan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A history of unpaid bills

The eviction case decision and five default judgments show a history of past-due bills and court costs.

According to the eviction decision, BCI is on the hook for $ 170,840.53 in past-due rent at its former office on North Broadway in Milwaukee, as well as more than $18,000 in court costs.

Giraffe Electric II Inc., Waukesha, received a default judgment against BCI in March for $4,918.24 for unpaid bills and court costs.

North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold Inc., which offers electronic financial services, received a default judgment in April for $67,744.82 for unpaid bills and court costs. According to court records, nine attempts were made to serve Minahan with a summons for the Diebold lawsuit before the judge found in favor of Diebold.

ABC Kortsch Moving & Storage Inc., Milwaukee, received a default judgment against BCI in August for $1,623.30 for outstanding charges for a storage unit and court costs.

Canton, Ohio-based The Huntington National Bank received a default judgment against BCI and Minahan in August for $268,059.39 for missed payments on a 1982 Cessna airplane and court costs.

Ronald Dow sued BCI for unpaid wages and reimbursements for parking and mileage from December 2011 to March 2012, as well as a $2,000 bonus he claims he should have received, according to an expense report filed with the lawsuit. Court records show Dow appeared in small claims court twice, but no one appeared for BCI. A judge found in favor of Dow by default for $9,456.

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