Landlord loses patience with Tobago bad-pay booth tenant

THE Milford Road Esplanade Ltd (MRE) has issued a pre-action protocol letter to its tenant Ian Seon.

On September 9, during a Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) news conference outside his booth at the esplanade in Scarborough, Seon acknowledged his rent was in arrears, but claimed he had paid half of what he owed.

According to the esplanade company, he owes $60,000 in rent. It had originally offered to waive the arrears.

But on September 9, Seon – who runs a variety store and sells snacks and drinks – said the MRE was treating him unfairly, and as a result, the MRE has changed its mind.

On September 10, Newsday received a copy of the pre-action protocol letter served on him titled, Letter before service: Vacant possession of booth no 5A Milford Road Esplanade, Milford Road, Scarborough and arrears of rent.

The letter was signed by attorney at law Gavern Mitchell, who said the MRE had instructed her to claim vacant possession of the booth.

The letter said Seon is a month-to-month concessionaire who has been "holding over" since his contract expired in August 2018. The letter said under the expired contract, either party could terminate the concession by giving a month’s notice in writing.

As a result of this clause, it said, the MRE decided to exercise that power, and served Seon with a notice to quit on July 30 requiring him to vacate the booth by August 31.

It went on: “The notice having expired on 31st August, 2024...you, having remained in possession of the booth, are in unlawful occupation of the booth. The MRE requests that you vacate the booth immediately."

It said the esplanade had adopted a "reasonable and justifiable approach," as Seon had been defaulting on paying his concession fee for years.

The letter spelled out: "You were in arrears for the period...October 2021-August, 2024 resulting in arrears accumulating to $78,500. You made no attempts to discharge or settle this debt until the month of August, 2024 after being served with a notice to quit on 30th July, 2024. The notice to quit expired on 31st August, 2024 and you remained in occupation."

On September 3, it said, MRE representatives met with him, "politely" asked him again to vacate the booth, and, when he asked for time to leave, gave him until September 6.

Further, it added, "due to your financial circumstances the MRE gave an undertaking to waive the outstanding debt of $60,000 which is owed and due to it from your occupation of the booth," when he left on September 6 as agreed.

But, it added, on September 9, he was still occupying the booth “and to add insult to injury, you participated in a media conference geared at misleading the public as to the true nature of your circumstances and slandering the MRE in the process.”

As a result of what it described as this "show of bad faith during an otherwise amicable termination and peaceful vacation of the booth" the MRE is now "demanding that you leave the booth immediately and pay the outstanding debt of $60,000 which is due and owing to it." If he does not vacate the booth immediately, it warned, legal proceedings will be started against him without any further notice.

"You will be required to pay all legal costs, interest and mesne profit associated with this action and your continued trespassing.”

Newsday visited the booth on September 10, but Seon was not there.