Surrey Bad Axe Throwing says landlord being unreasonable about deferring rent, trying to lock in tenants to bad deal

Business in Surrey is raising the alarm about a corporate landlord they say is trying to take advantage of the pandemic

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – A business operator in the Lower Mainland claims his landlord is trying to capitalize on the COVID-19 crisis by demanding higher rents in exchange for payment deferments.

According to Bad Axe Throwing, of all the company’s dozens of North American outlets, the landlord of the Surrey location has been the only one unreasonable about deferring rent.

“It’s just straight up price gouging is what they’re doing,” Mario Zelaya, who runs Surrey Bad Axe Throwing, said. “What’s normal is for landlords to defer the payment, which means we’re not asking for free rent. we’re asking for them to postpone it, and what that means is at a later point in time, we’re going to make those payments. It’s very simple. We have zero revenue, zero operation, so we say ‘Hey, for the months of April and May, please postpone the rent, but we’re still going to pay you back.”

He told NEWS 1130 his landlord, Redstone Group, offered to defer only a portion of the rent if he agreed to a lease extension, increase in the rent, and interest.

The landlord even asked Zelaya to put his personal assets on the line, he said.

“So I’ve got to give a personal guarantee, which means my house, my GICs, my investment — everything is at risk,” he explained, adding a gag order was also part of the deal.

“If I tell anyone about it, I will be in default, and if I’m in default that means that I would have to pay them the whole rent for the whole term, which amounts to, let’s say it’s $200-and-something-thousand,” he told NEWS 1130.

Zelaya said no.

“They essentially wrote back saying, ‘These are our terms and this is what we have to offer and if you want to consider it we suggest you use a better temperament,’ because, frankly, I called them a bunch of scumbags and said I would not sign it,” he recalled.

He said the landlords of other Bad Axe Throwing locations have offered either a four month deferral or wiped out rent entirely for a few months.

“They’re not trying to get your house, they’re trying not to shut you up about how they’re screwing you over,” Zelaya explained. “Not a single landlord, only this one in Surrey is doing this.”

Zelaya said he’s filed a formal complaint because, while his company is big enough to fight back, he’s concerned for the other tenants who are not.

NEWS 1130 has reached out to Redstone Group for comment.

The rental agreement with proposed rent hikes in exchange for payment deferments, provided to NEWS 1130 by Bad Axe Throwing