Operator of 2 Garapan restaurants ordered to vacate premises

Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho has ordered a company that operates two restaurants at LC Building in Garapan to vacate the premises for failing to answer a lawsuit over non-payment of space rent.

In a default judgment, Camacho found China Yanbian Foreign Economic & Technical Cooperation Corp. liable to pay LC Rental Company LLC $104,400, including the principal amount of $83,200, plus costs and attorneys’ fees in the amount of $1,222.

Camacho terminated the month-to-month lease between plaintiff LC Rental Company LLC as lessor and China Yanbian as lessee.

The judge ordered that the premises shall be restored to LC Rental Company LLC.

The motion for a default judgment was held last Aug. 26, but only attorney Benjamin Petersburg appeared in court for LC Rental. No one appeared for China Yanbian.

China Yanbian operates Seoul One Restaurant and Shinsen Sushi Restaurant at LC Building in Garapan. Saipan Tribune learned yesterday that the two restaurants are still operating. The company also rents an apartment unit on the third floor of the same building.

LC Rental manages the LC Building and is responsible for collecting monthly rental payments from tenants. China Yanbian allegedly does not have a written lease agreement with LC Rental.

Attorney Mark Hanson, another counsel for LC Rental, stated in the complaint that China Yanbian is supposed to pay $4,000 per month for the space in the premises by the Shinsen Sushi Restaurant, $6,000 per month for the space by the Seoul One Restaurant, and $400 per month for the apartment unit—for a total rent of $10,400 per month.

Hanson said China Yanbian has not paid any rent to LC Rental since November 2015 nor has it vacated its occupancy of the premises.

Hanson said China Yanbian now owes LC Rental no less than $83,200 in unpaid rent.

He said despite the statutory demands made by LC Rental, China Yanbian has failed and refused to pay the back rent due and has refused to vacate the premises.

Recently, CNMI Labor administrative hearing officer Jerry Cody ordered the reinstatement of suspended sanctions in the amount of $1,000 against China Yanbian for failing to comply with an administrative order issued on June 17, 2016 directing the company to produce payroll records.

According to court documents, San Hun Lee claimed that he is a member of LC Rental Company LLC, and an officer of China Yanbian. Lee is the son of Byung Deuk Lee, a Korean businessman who was allegedly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and figured before in a legal dispute with some family members.