FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM)- Haas Hall Academy’s landlord, Paradigm Building LLC, has filed a lawsuit against the school following a dispute over a lease agreement after Haas Hall notified Paradigm it will be vacating its building.
The lawsuit was filed by Paradigm’s attorneys on April 2 against Haas Hall Academy and its founder and superintendent Martin Schoppmeyer, Jr.
In the lawsuit, Paradigm is seeking a ruling from the Washington County Circuit Court that Haas Hall is obligated to continue leasing the space at 3155 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville until June 30, 2017 at $20,770 a month.
In the lawsuit, Paradigm states email and letter correspondence between Schoppmeyer and Tracy Hoskins, President of Paradigm, renewed both the Haas Hall primary and extended leases at the cheaper renewal rate.
An attorney for Haas Hall said Schoppmeyer and Paradigm entered into a month-by-month tenancy agreement, not a three-year renewal, since there was a renewal option and a holdover option in contracts for both properties.
Haas Hall’s attorney also said the Academy intends to follow through with its change of location. The new location will be on N. Front Street near E. Joyce Boulevard and will be open in time for the start of the new school year in August. According to their attorney, Haas Hall’s application was approved by the Charter Authorizing Panel in February and in March the move was approved by the Arkansas Department of Education despite Paradigm’s objections.
The attorney said students will not be impacted by the lawsuit and said the judiciary will now be the one to resolve this dispute.
Haas Hall and Paradigm entered into their first lease agreement for a space on College Avenue in October 2008 and into another lease agreement for expanded space in September 2010, according to the lawsuit. Both leases expired on June 30, 2014. From July 2013 to June 2014, the combined monthly rate for both leases was $32,061, the lawsuit states. Both leases were available for renewal for another three years.
In the lawsuit, Paradigm states that it anticipates Haas Hall will claim it was a holdover tenant and lists several reasons as to why that argument is not valid, including using “renewal” language in written communications and paying lower renewal rate for the property.
On Monday (April 6), Haas Hall filed a motion asking the court to allow the school to pay all rent for the remaining three months of the school year.
