Eviction – CAM Charges

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WI Court of Appeals – District I

Case Name: IFS Filing Systems LLC v. 11225 Heather LLC, et al.

Case No.: 2017AP1376

Officials: Kessler, P.J., Brash and Dugan, JJ.

Focus: Eviction – CAM Charges

IFS Filing Systems LLC appeals from the trial court’s order, following a trial to the court. This case involves a landlord/tenant dispute that resulted in a judgment of eviction and an award of damages. 11225 Heather LLC is the owner of a commercial building located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When Heather purchased the property, the tenant in the building was Integrated Filing Solutions LLC. Integrated subsequently assigned the lease to IFS.

Heather filed a small claims eviction action alleging that IFS breached the lease by failing to pay the management fee portion of the rent and by failing to provide financial statements. IFS then filed a large claims action seeking damages and declaratory judgment. IFS alleged that Heather had breached the lease by charging common area maintenance (CAM) fees and sought declaratory judgment that it had a right to purchase the property. The trial court consolidated the two actions for trial. IFS subsequently filed an amended complaint to include claims against Brennan Investment Group LLC and added new claims against Heather.

Following a trial to the court, the trial court (1) granted a writ of eviction and awarded damages of $83,586.07 to Heather, (2) held that Heather proved its breach of contract and tortious interference with contract claims against IFS and awarded damages of $1.25 million, (3) awarded attorney fees of $184,262.58 to Heather pursuant to the lease terms, (4) denied IFS’s claims against Brennan Investment for strict responsibility and negligent misrepresentation, and (5) denied IFS’s claims against Heather for breach of contract and contract reformation.

On appeal, IFS argues that the trial court erred regarding each of its holdings. IFS states that while this case involves various claims, it revolves around four main issues: (1) a dispute over CAM charges; (2) Heather’s claims that IFS did not provide financial statements; (3) Heather’s misrepresentations by omissions at the time of the assignment of the lease; and (4) IFS’s right to purchase the premises for $4.15 million. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.