NEW ORLEANS — A civil action lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana’s U.S. District Court on Aug. 2 seeking payment for the remainder of a contract as well as property damages against a Mandeville, Louisiana, general contractor.
Plaintiff RAM SPV V, LLC, a Delaware-based company, filed a 12-page complaint via Attorney Michael F. Weiner. The filing alleges that the defendant, Voelkel McWilliams Construction LLC, owes the plaintiff $236,075.47 in lease payments for the defendant’s use of portable buildings owned by the plaintiff in St. Tammany Parish.
The suit has asked for an additional $17,725 because the defendant allegedly “damaged the portable buildings beyond wear and tear during their use.”
Also named as defendant in the suit is Fidelity and Deposit Co. of Maryland (F&D), from which the defendant secured a Labor and Material Payment Bond in March 2016. The plaintiff alleges that it made an “amicable demand” for the payments to both Voelkel McWilliams and F&D, but “has not received amount for the amount due and owing.”
In question is a 30-month lease for temporary portable buildings and a 12-month lease period for a temporary locker building in Pearl River, Louisiana. The property, owned by the plaintiff, was leased to the defendant, who was working as a general contractor on the Pearl River High School renovation project. The defendant then had the portable buildings dismantled “before the lease was up.”
According to the plaintiff, the lease agreement did not provide the defendant “with the ability to terminate the lease period early, or alter the agreement’s lump-sum amount.” The defendant claims, according to the filing, that it only “had to pay for the months it actually used the buildings on site.”
Plaintiff RAM SPV V, LLC is seeking the remainder of the lease amount and for the damages. The plaintiff has also specified it asks for $23,607.54 from F&D for attorney’s fees and an unspecified amount for fees against Voelkel McWilliams. Damages and penalties are also requested, as are prejudgment and post-judgment interest on the amounts from the date due until paid at the rate of 1.5% per month, or the legal rate.
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, Civil Action No. 18-cv-7333