Auxillio, the transportation company for Lorain City Schools that was located in Westgate Plaza in Lorain, disputes claims it failed to meet its lease obligation and maintains the landlord was at fault.
Ed Dollin, president of Auxilio, and the company’s attorney Laura Hauser, provided The Morning Journal with documents showing problems leading up to the dispute, including photographs of unfinished work and paperwork from exterminating companies to eliminate a rodent problem.
Yaser Etayem purchased the eight-acre property at the intersection of West 21 Street and Leavitt Road in March 2021.
Etayem’s first tenant was Auxilio, which moved to the location in July 2022.
It now operates in a facility on 35th Street near Broadway in Lorain.
Last month, Etayem told The Journal in an Aug. 28 report that Auxilio was the cause of stalling his development of the previously vacant plaza by not moving out on time as well as damaging property.
However, the company provided a photograph of a “Stop Work Order” issued by the city of Lorain’s Department of Building, Housing and Planning dated June 29 for failure to obtain proper permits.
“The premises we leased were initially unsafe for our employees, and we paid a lot of extra money for electricity, gas line, ceiling tiles, exterminators, security, water in the basement that never was removed, and for installing fuel tanks in that we never got to use because he (Etayem) arbitrarily prohibited Auxilio from running the electricity to the tanks,” said Dollin in a statement disputing Etayem’s claims.
Dollin claims Etayem didn’t live up to his obligations as a landlord.
After signing the lease, Auxilio had a move-in date that wasn’t met, and when the company was able to move in, the space was not completed, Dollin said.
Dollin maintains the building’s walls still were being cut out to remediate mold and the roof was under repair when the company moved in last year.
“There was work going on for another three weeks on the roof that resulted in loud noises and leaks all over the place,” he said.
Additionally, the company said its employees had no access to restroom facilities for more than two weeks.
“Then, we had only one restroom for seven weeks, and when the second restroom was finally working, the original restroom needed to have the toilet replaced,” Dollin said.
“Auxilio ended up installing the new toilet because he failed to comply with the requirements in the lease,” he said.
The restroom facilities were bare of toilet paper holders, soap dispensers or other fixtures when the company moved in, Dollin said.
He also noted there were only three working electrical outlets when the company moved in.
Dollin said Etayem forced Auxilio to pay for additional outlets despite the fire marshal and building inspector instructing Etayem the building did not meet the codes regarding the mandated number of outlets.
“We were running extension cords to help run our computers and copiers,” Dollin said.
The lack of air-conditioning for a month also caused issues for the Auxilio employees during last summer’s “sweltering heat,” he said.
Once the air-conditioning units were operable, they leaked all over the place because they had the drains running into the facility, Dollin said.
This created other issues, including damaging a printer that Auxilio had to repair at its own expense, he said.
In November, Auxilio learned the space it leased also was without heat because the gas line was not connected, Dollin said.
“Auxilio took on that expense just so we could have a normal functioning space where we could conduct business,” he said of the heating issue.
In April, Etayem reportedly approached Auxilio’s staff and told them they needed to move because he had leased out space to another tenant, even though there was a lease through August, Dollin said.
The space Etayem asked the company to move into had no walls, electricity or doors, he said.
“We gave proper notice of our intent to terminate the lease, and Auxilio was completely out of the property at least a week before the end of the month,” Dollin said. “Nothing was left, and there was no damage to the parking lot. The property was left cleaner and in better shape than when we arrived.”
Etayem previously said the fleet of buses which was parked on the east side of the plaza’s parking lot were repaired on the parking lot, which he claims caused between $40,000 and $50,000 in damages.
Etayem couldn’t be reached for a comment Sept. 5.
