Barat Academy Sued for Non-Payment of Rent

Court documents show ’s landlord, CP-SPE LLC, filed a lawsuit on Jan. 21. The company says the school failed to pay $25,000 monthly rent for November, December and January.

According to the lawsuit, Barat Academy entered a 13-month lease with CP-SPE LLC on May 21, 2010. The lease requires the school to pay an additional ten percent annually on unpaid rent from the due date until payment is made. The lease also requires a late fee equal to five percent the amount owed.

Calls to Barat Academy Principal Debby Watson were not immediately returned.

According to a press release issued by KolbeCo Marketing on behalf of Barat Academy, CP-SPE LLC was managed by Premier Bank, the school’s primary lender, until late last year when the bank went into receivership. Now the company is under control of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

The release states that in 2010, Barat Academy restructured its bond debt when it arranged to lease back its campus from CP‐SPE LLC.

“The involvement of the FDIC has made the refinancing process harder. Barat is currently in the process of negotiating with the FDIC and is working towards a global resolution concerning its lease and ownership of its campus. Negotiations are moving slower than anticipated as a result of strained resources at the FDIC, but Barat is confident that support from its students, their parents, and the community will enable it to complete negotiations in the near term,” the release states.

The issue is headed to trial at the St. Charles County Circuit Court on March 22.