Reason #45 Why I Am So Happy Not To Be In Business In A Booming Oil Patch -- December 29, 2014

Bakken.com:

A limited-membership social and business club in Williston with dues ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 was evicted this month over failed rent payments.
The Bakken Club was ordered to remove all of its property from its downtown location by December 21, 2014, the Williston Herald reported. Court records show the eviction came after the club failed to pay nearly $23,000 in rent.

The club signed a lease in July 2013 and opened five months later featuring a bar and restaurant. An individual premier membership included a one-time $5,000 initiation fee and a $250 monthly food minimum.

When the club opened, co-owner Joel Lundeen declared that The Bakken Club was meant to be a place where “like-minded individuals can further business relations.”

In response to the eviction, the club filed a lawsuit against its lessor, On The Spot Development, owned by David Forenza. The club claims Forenza’s company failed to return a security deposit by its July 31 due date. The club argues the landlord also breached the contract by failing to provide heat, ventilation and air conditioning and to maintain the sidewalks and driveways in good condition.

The club’s counter-suit also alleges that Forenza interfered with the group’s business by spreading rumors through the public and on the club’s website. The suit says the rumors included that the Bakken Club “makes everything from a box” and “the food is terrible.”
Neither Forenza, nor club representatives could be reached for comment Saturday and attorneys for the Bakken Club declined to comment to the newspaper. The phone listed on the club’s website has been disconnected.

On The Spot Development has previously evicted other tenants from the building that housed the club. A legal dispute between the lessor and a doughnut shop shows that the tenant stopped paying its rent when On The Spot Development did not provide utilities as promised in the lease.

By the way, without going into details, I could provide some very personal observations but those observations and $1.89 would get you a cup a coffee at Starbucks.