Court Documents: Heff's Burgers Owed $48,000 in Unpaid Rent

SAN ANGELO, TX — The Inn of the Conchos, 2021 N. Bryant Blvd., had trouble collecting rent from Heff’s Burgers just after the first year of the lease and by May 30, 2015, court documents detail. The May 2015 rent was due by the end of that month but not deposited until July 21, almost two months late, according to court documents. In all, Heff’s racked up $1,200 in late fees over the course of the three year lease, the Inn of the Conchos claimed in a lawsuit filed against Heff’s on May 5, 2017.

Heff’s Burgers, LLC leased the restaurant building on Inn of the Conchos property on March 15, 2014. The term of the lease was three years and the monthly rent was $3,000. Rent was payable by the last day of each month.

The lawsuit claimed Heff’s owed the motel property $40,200 for unpaid rent, excluding interest on the date of the lawsuit’s filing in 2017. The lawsuit also claimed a breach of contract, and warned that the Inn of the Concho’s suffering will increase “with time and which the Defendant (Heff’s) is liable, plus prejudgment and post-judgment interest at the highest allowable rate by law.” The lawsuit also demanded Heff’s pay the Inn of the Concho’s attorneys’ fees, which racked up to over $4,600 over the course of the lawsuit.

The Inn stated that Heff’s benefitted from its use of the building, and the non-payment of the rent allowed Heff’s to be “unjustly enriched.”

Heff’s settled with the Inn of the Conchos in an Agreed Final Judgment filed on March 15, 2018. In the settlement, Heff’s agreed that it then owed $48,000 in unpaid rent, $1,700 for past late fees, $440.97 in court costs, and $4,630.25 in attorney’s fees and expenses. Heff’s agreed to pay 5 percent interest on the debt until cured. The agreement was signed by attorneys for both sides and approved by District Court Judge Tom Gossett.

On June 5, 2018, the Inn of the Conchos posted a notice of the door of Heff’s Burgers in San Angelo that Heff’s was locked out and all equipment was seized.

The lawsuit settlement stipulates that the sheriff can seize and then sell “all rights, title, and interest in the contents of the Subject property as under execution, in satisfaction of this judgment.”

The settlement document also allows the court to order an “officer to take money, or any balance thereof remaining unpaid, out of the property of Defendants (Heff’s) as in the case of ordinary executions.”

In summary, the Inn of the Conchos filed a lawsuit on May 5, 2017 accusing Heff’s Burgers of not paying rent in the amount of $40,200. On March 15, 2018, Inn of the Conchos and Heff’s agreed in an Agreed Final Judgment where Heff’s agreed it owed $54,771.12 in unpaid rent, late charges, court costs, and attorneys fees. On June 5, 2018 the Inn of the Conchos locked Heff’s out of its building.