Reich Brothers Business Solutions, an industrial real estate firm based in North White Plains, has won a $3.2 million award against a company that stopped paying for construction equipment.
U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel issued a default judgment Oct. 23 against U.S. Crossings Unlimited, an oil and gas pipeline construction company in Belmont, Ohio, and Mike Lind, the company owner, for failure to respond to a lawsuit.
She also ordered them to return the equipment, valued at $2 million, and refrain from “dismantling, removing, concealing, using, hiding, selling” it.
Reich Brothers”™ primary business is buying, managing and repurposing dormant factories and distribution facilities across the country, including the machinery and equipment that come with the old structures.
In June 2018, Reich Brothers struck a deal with U.S. Crossings to lease used construction equipment, such as trucks with as much as 830,000 miles, trailers, backhoes, pipelayers, air compressors and augers.
U.S. Crossings agreed to pay $61,481 a month for four years. Lind, according to the complaint filed in January, personally guaranteed the payments. Payments stopped after four months.
U.S. Crossings “purposely” interfered with Reich Brothers reclaiming its property, Adam M. Reich, co-CEO, stated in an affidavit. He said U.S. Crossings was still using the equipment in Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania and was stripping parts to repair other vehicles.
Reich Brothers sued U.S. Crossings for breach of contract, breach of warranty and conversion.
The default judgment includes $2.6 million still owed under the lease agreement, plus late fees, interest, enforcement costs and attorney fees.
Reich Brothers was represented by Barry M. Kazan of Thompson Hine LLP in Manhattan.
