March 1st, 2020: I moved into 86 Partition St.
March 4th: Check for security deposit from landlord at previous location of 110 Partition St. bounced, creating a financial domino effect. 8 months and a court date later, I got my security deposit back. I was told in court by the judge I was, “not to speak”.
March 19th, 2020: COVID shutdown
June 1st 2020: store had a catastrophic flood and destroyed all of the merchandise in my store. $60,000 + in damages.
July 1st, 2020: Re-opened a month after everyone else due to repairs and waiting for new merchandise, fixtures, etc.
April 16th, 2021 - 10 MONTHS LATER: Another flood that came from the same spot in the ceiling and destroyed the same amount of merchandise. Repeat steps taken in July 2021.
Total number of months: 13
Out of those 13 months, the total number of months Meraki was open: 8
I don’t know how long the water had been pouring from the ceiling when I got there. I hadn’t been there in over a week. When both floods occurred, the windows were so fogged up you couldn’t see inside. I was told the cause was a 17 year old water heater that had ”sprung a leak” - the ceiling fans were all on and the leak was directly above one of them which dispersed the water everywhere. There was not an inch of my (very small) store that didn’t get hit with hot, filthy, rusty water. It destroyed all of my merchandise, shelving, display fixtures, POS system, tissue paper, records, etc. ***This happened TWICE. In 10 months. The first year I was in the space. During a pandemic.
Despite the undeniable evidence of negligence on their part, RUPCO denied responsibility, citing a lease waiver that was against public policy; a policy my attorney pointed out in court - I suppose just for fun because he decided he would keep it a secret between us as opposed to using it in my defense - and was ultimately unenforceable. In an email not meant for my eyes, the assistant property manager, Taskya DeRosalia, said they were “covered by Section 8 and 9”. They refused to file an insurance claim on my behalf for either flood until after they wrongfully evicted me, in reply to a letter I sent them asking all the questions that my “attorney” failed to ask. Instead of answering my questions they opened a (fraudulent) insurance claim in my name without telling me, asking me, or communicating with me in any way. And I suppose they didn't think it through before doing so, because by opening an insurance claim in my name (after evicting me) THEY ADMITTED FAULT.
This insurance claim was not actually meant to help me; it was a tactic used to exhaust me, gaslight me, and waste my time; ERIE had no intention of doing anything other than run me in circles and come up with three different and equally absurd reason for denying the claim. Eventually, I filed a complaint with DFS. (Department of Financial Services). Because they're the agency that exists to protect people like me from predatory, fraudulent companies like Erie, right? Wrong.
I had two options: Close before I opened, or keep taking out loans and maxing out my credit cards. I chose option two because option one was never actually an option in my mind. Was I to close my business before I had a chance to even open it? Essentially buying inventory and fixtures to do what with? Turn into an art installation in my (tiny) apartment? Essentially opening a store just to create an enormous amount of debt, obliterate my credit and finances? I think not.
