Document that UPi sent to current tenants

According to the document, a new “seasoned Manager”, Lesa Anderson, has been hired to manage the business.  I wonder if she knows about Spiros Zorbalas’ track record as a slumlord…

Of course, Spiros still owns the MyMinneapolisApartments.com and is still likely the man behind the operation.

One new piece of information is that Contract Services Group, LLC is the new official front for UPi.  I will look into that company and report back to you.

Spiros Zorbalas lives in Naples, FL.

Coincidence?

See the MN Secretary of State listing for the company below and compare it to the listing for UPi.

The registered agent for Contract Services Group, LLC is Lesa Anderson.  The address that the company is registered at is actually a UPS store, which has lots of P.O. boxes.  According to this document, the suite number of Contract Services Group, LLC is #301.  I know for a fact that there are only 2 stories in the building that they claim their corporate offices are in.  I will visit in person soon to investigate.  I want to see what “Suite #301″ means.  Is it a P.O. box, or is it an office?

Also, what is Lesa Anderson’s role here?

In response, Zorbalas has claimed that he is broke and that UPi never accepted any rent checks.  Of course, we know this is a blatant lie.  I wrote almost 50 checks out to “UPi” during my time as a UPi tenant.

We need to know who current UPi/My Minneapolis Apartments tenants are paying their rent to.  Who do you write your check out to?

The email has been slightly edited by me to clarify the context.  My edits are represented by parentheses, “…”, and bold text.

Thanks for the documents. The UPI renter stuff is great because I can show the court that (Spiros Zorbalas) laughs at every judgment…. I am trying to collect on judgments that were rendered in August and November 2009.

UPI claimed my client had a year lease and she claimed she had a 6 month lease. She couldn’t find her lease, so they produced a copy showing that it was an annual lease, and Zorbalas threatened to ruin her credit if she didn’t keep paying. She moved out but kept paying. The lease was a UPI Minnesota form, but even so, Florida law applies, so attorney fees go to the prevailing party. After paying for 5 more months, she found her lease and it showed that Zorbalas had changed the lease and “filled in blanks” after it was signed. I sent a letter asking UPI to refund her money and they refused, so we sued. Should have been a simple little case. He delayed, delayed, delayed. I noticed his manager’s depo 6 times.

(Zorbalas) went through three lawyers by the time we got to trial, and tried to represent himself – claiming to the judge that he was a single member LLC so he could. We went to trial in June 2009 and the judge entered a judgment based on a jury verdict in August 2009. In November 2009, he entered a second judgment awarding my client all her attorney fees. Most of the attorney fees were the result of all his shenanigans and delays. UPI is a Florida LLC registered in MN as a foreign corp, so the court here has jurisdiction over its assets. (More about that below)

(Zorbalas) hasn’t paid and is now on his 5th lawyer. After the 30 day appeal period had expired, I set Zorbalas’s depo in aid of execution, which was held in Feb 2010. I asked him to bring documents to the depo – and he brought none. He claimed under oath that UPI did not rent property anymore and was just a marketing firm. He said there were no leases with UPI in Minnesota or Florida. He claimed he couldn’t remember his accountant’s name.

After that, I went through the business of opening proceedings supplementary which required some time to file and obtain all the necessary writs, and the court opened proceedings in October 2010. Attorney fees are now at issue again under Florida statute. I have asked again for a lot of documents which he will not produce. His lawyer has stood in open court and claimed that UPI has no money.

You and I know he is a pathological liar, but I have to show that to the court. (Before trial the judge did see the fed. Judgment and sentencing for his conviction for fraud)

I need documents – leases, copies of checks made out to UPI, certificates of rent paid, for 2009 and 2010. …(You) have sent me docs showing he was collecting rents in 2005 – 2008. I need all that because he has already claimed UPI doesn’t collect rents, therefore he will claim there are no checking accounts which the court can garnish to satisfy the judgments, or rents which the court can garnish to satisfy the judgments.

I also need to know who tenants are paying now. If I have the proof that he is lying the court can hold him in contempt and send him to jail until he delivers the account numbers for garnishment.

As a practical matter, because this is an LLC in Florida, the court can order him to transfer assets from MN to FL to garnish and the court can decide to hold him personally responsible for the debts of the LLC and we can attach that way – but we are talking about a lot of time (it takes 2-3 months to get on a docket every time I need a hearing) Plus, my client could really use the money he owes her.

So that’s what I need and why. I spelled it all out and you can share this email with anyone that wants to help. I will need an affidavit from each person that shares docs that attests to the authenticity of the documents, but that’s all and I will provide the affidavits.

Here’s something else that occurred to me: As I said, UPI is a Florida LLC, and Zorbalas and his LLC are in Naples, so the Collier County court has jurisdiction over his LLS and its single member. His MN tenants can move for damages and obtain judgments in MN because that is where the contract arose, but they can also domesticate those judgments in FL if they haven’t been paid up there and ask the court here to garnish the LLC accounts (or Zorbalas personally) (We would need a certified copy of the judgment from the court in MN)

Once the judgment is domesticated in Florida, it would have to be recorded with the Sec of State here and there is a recording fee, and we would have to sue him on the judgment, but all the costs should be collectible with the judgment.

I think we could apply Florida law to the collection of the judgment and collect atty fees for getting the judgments paid. I don’t really have the time to handle a bunch of small cases but we could almost do them assembly line style and I could probably find a young lawyer to help that needed the business.

Zorbalas thinks he is untouchable and I want to prove him wrong. He owes me and my clients money and while he lives the life of Riley, the people he has screwed do without. (I am obviously still stuck in my 60’s notions of right and wrong)

If there are a lot of judgments, or even a few, it’s worth exploring. I would have to do the research on the atty fee issue – because no one can pay atty fees to collect a small judgment, but I would do that if there are former tenants that are interested in going after Zorbalas.

You may pass along all or any part of this email to anyone that you think might be willing to help or has a judgment. Thanks to you for helping me, and most importantly, my client out with this battle.

Colleen

Want to help?  Please email, fax, or mail copies of your lease, CRP, cashed checks made out to UPi to:

I am a Florida lawyer trying to collect a judgment and attorney fees for a tenant I represented against UPI and Zorbalas in Florida.  Mr Zorbalas has declared that he has no money and UPI is just a “marketing company” that does not manage rental properties so he doesn’t have to pay the judgment.  UPI is a Florida corporation registered in MN as a foreign corp, so I want to attach his MN rents.  …Right now I need copies of UPI leases and tenants who will let me depose them and will state that they rent from UPI and pay their rent to UPI. Zorbalas owes my client about $30, 000.00 in a judgment and attorney fees…

I spoke with this Florida lawyer last week, and it seems that Zorbalas lied under oath about the nature of UPi’s business, claiming UPi was merely involved in marketing.

Around the same time as this judgment was declared, Zorbalas changed his UPi Property Management Group company to My Minneapolis Apartments.

Was this timing coincidence?  Probably not.  Was it part of an effort to avoid paying this $30,000 judgment and others?  Probably so.

Here’s what I need from you.  If you are currently renting from UPi or My Minneapolis Apartments, I need you to email or mail a copy of your lease and any other UPi/My Minneapolis Apartments documents (copies of checks cashed by UPi, Certificate of Rent Paid, etc.) to:

Colleen J. MacAlister, P.A.
5147 Castello Drive
Naples, FL 34103

colleen@cjmaclaw.com

The world will be a better place for your efforts!

Public Court Records for Spiros Zorbalas, UPi, Uptown Classic Properties Inc (and, by extension, My Minneapolis Apartments)

It is clear that Zorbalas and his companies are dragged into court often.

I found this list by doing a search of the Civil, Family & Probate Case Records of Minnesota.

(Thanks to this post for the idea)

It appears that the domain, myminneapolisapartments.com, which is registered by known slumlord, Spiros Zorbalas, maintains the same official mailing address as The Escalante hotel in Naples, FL.

This is really weird.  Why would a business entity be registered to a hotel room?

Well, it turns out that Zorbalas, in addition to being a slumlord in Minneapolis, is in the luxury condo and hotel game in Naples, Florida, where he allegedly lives.  He likely owns The Escalante.

Spiros Zorbalas Buys The Escalante

Minnesota Secretary of State Filing for UPi

We have already established that myminneapolisapartments.com is owned by Zorbalas.

I have also been receiving tips that some of the UPi signs around town have been changing to “myminneapolisapartments.com” signs.  A coincidence?  Probably not.

I discovered this map of UPi apartments in Minneapolis and plan to cross-reference it with the My Minneapolis Apartments property listing.

First of all, the upionline.com website is now a generic apartment-finder type of website rather than the official UPi website it used to be.  See the registrant information below.

source: http://whois.domaintools.com/upionline.com

Does this mean that UPi owner and slumlord, Spiros Zorbalas, is getting out of the apartment rental business?  Not likely.  In fact, the domain, myminneapolisapartments.com, is registered to Zorbalas (see image below):

source: http://whois.domaintools.com/myminneapolisapartments.com