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By M. PAUL JACKSON mjackson@leader.net
Wednesday, February 09, 2000 Page: 10B
PITTSTON – A legal fight about repair fees and back taxes for the Pittston
Mall could cost the new owner of the property more than $2 million.
According to a January civil filing in the Luzerne County Court of Common
Pleas, Gretchen Associates – the company holding the mortgage on the property
– is owed about $2.9 million in back taxes and maintenance payments.
Gretchen Associates purchased the mall from the Citizens Savings
Association in October 1999. At the time, Gretchen was owed about $1.9 million
in back taxes from the mall, according to an April 1999 confession of judgment
filing.
The judgment left open additional interest charges and late fees, bringing
the total back payments to $2.9 million.
“That mall needs a lot of work,” said Harry Skene, an attorney
representing Gretchen Associates. “Whoever buys it, it’s going to cost them a
million-plus to fix it.”
Pittston Commons Associates purchased the property on February 4 at a
sheriff’s sale – but must meet Gretchen’s $2.9 million mortgage price to own
the land.
Marvin Slomowitz, president of Pittston Commons Associates, could not be
reached for comment.
Attorneys for Pittston Commons are balking at the back payment fees.
Attorneys at Rosenn, Jenkins & Greenwald, the law firm representing the
company, could not be reached for comment. In a complaint filed by the firm
Monday, the attorneys said the back payment fees were excessive.
The inflated payments from $1.9 million to $2.9 million “contains
unreasonable charges … which should not be added to the Confessed Judgment”
of April 1999, the firm wrote.
The increased price would make it harder for Slomowitz to purchase the
property, the complaint argued.
Gretchen tried to “defraud PCA, or any other successful bidder at the Feb.
4, 2000 sheriff sale with respect to the true amount which is due on the
property,” the complaint read.
In addition, the complaint argues that Gretchen received between $300,000
to $400,000 in payments from mall tenants that have never been counted.
Skene said he had not yet read the complaint, but said Gretchen had
calculated back taxes, maintenance and repair fees that were not included in
the April 1999 filing.
PCA has “some kind of idea that we’re trying to steal,” he said.
“Whatever we paid for, we want back.”
Call Jackson at 829-7134