Fishy Business Aug06

Fishy Business

If you work in the real estate business, chances are that at some point, someone has tried to tell you that your job is “all kinds of boring.” But most times, they sure are wrong. Not long ago we read a blog post published by one of our clients, Phoenix-based Gary Shaw of Arcadia Management Group. It was the kind of story that reminded us just how not boring the real estate business can be. Gary relayed the tale of what happened when a commercial tenant of his company became delinquent on the rent for their retail space. As a result of the missing rent, Arcadia Management Group essentially “locked out” the tenant, which typically results in a fast remittance of the funds owed. This wasn’t just any retail store, though. It was a high-end tropical salt water fish store, and taking care of the inventory was no small task We’ll let Gary tell you what happened next in his own words: “We were certain the tenant would be able to come up with the capital to cure the default and take back his store. “The real world, unfortunately, doesn’t always follow the ideal scenario. The store owner was truly at an impasse and did not have the capital to cure the default. He made it clear that he was walking away from the fishy business for good. “We pleaded with the owner to continue running the aquarium equipment while we made plans to liquidate – ‘If nothing else, do it for the fish!’ Our pleas went unanswered, and our calls were never returned. Nemo, Dory and all of their friends’ lives were now in our hands. Overnight, we went from property managers to fish store operators and underwater ecosystem caretakers.” Thankfully, this story...