3 sued for alleged abandonment, non-payment of $823K rent

Lawyer Janet Han King is suing two corporations and an investor for alleged abandonment and non-payment of $823,098 in rent for her piece of land on Tinian.

King, through counsel James R. Stump, is suing Island Leisure Corp., Jeon Il Soo, and Alpha Victory Corp. for breach of contract and abandonment. She wants them held liable to pay her $823,098 in unpaid rent, plus any additional damages, attorney’s fees, and courts costs.

She also asked the Superior Court to have the defendants removed from the property so she could recover possession of the premises.

According to Stump in the complaint filed last Thursday, Island Leisure Corp. and Alpha Victory Corp. are both inactive, while the location of Soo, who is a resident of South Korea, is unknown.

Stump said that Island Leisure Corp. signed a 55-year lease for the use of the land until July 2052 on Sept. 11, 1997. The lease was signed by Jung Hung Lee as president and authorized representative as lessee.

Stump said that on Sept. 15, 1999, the Island Treasure lease was amended, modifying the monthly rent due under the rent from $3,500 per month effective Aug. 1, 1999, to be increased by 5% beginning Sept. 1, 2002, with an additional 5% increase every five years after. Stump said the total lease is $3,005,628.

Under the amended lease, Stump said, the cure period for non-payment of rent was reduced from the original 30-day cure period to a 10-day cure period.

On Dec. 26, 2000, Island Leisure entered into an agreement with Jeon Il Soo to assign all of the interests in the Island Leisure lease in return for exit extinguishment and cancellation of debt between assignor and assignee and associated mortgage on the property.

On Aug. 15, 2002, the Island Leisure lease was allegedly reassigned from Jeon Il Soo to Alpha Victory Corp.

Stump said King has no record of rent payment due under the lease, as amended, since August 2002 and asserts a claim of $823,098 in unpaid rent due and owing under the terms of the lease.

In August 2002, lessee allegedly vacated the property and ceased paying any rent and associated expenses without notice to King. Since then, the property has been considered abandoned by the defendants, Stump said.

Last March 10, King sent notices of lease default for nonpayment of rent by registered mail to the address provided by the defendants in the lease and assignment documents.

Stump said no address or point of contact was provided in the first and second assignment documents for Soo.

“As of April 1, 2020, there has been no response from defendants on the notices of defaults,” the lawyer said.

As a result of of this breach, King allegedly suffered damages equal to unpaid rent under the lease.