First, the letter he wrote to Regus:
Email: amelia.calatrava@regus.com
cellphone : 305-924-2682
I am currently the tenant of Suite 424 at the Downtown Doral Park REGUS. [His law firm] 8333 NW 53rd Street, Suite 450, Miami, Florida 33166.
At this time, $2,218 is held as my security deposit. I was originally a tenant of Suite 460 under contract, and my current 2 year lease is a “Renewal Agreement.”
At this time, I am looking to terminate my lease immediately due to the failure of Regus to maintain workable temperature during the weekends. Temperatures reach above 80 degrees in my suite, and I do not have access to a thermostat.
Please terminate my 2 year renewal agreement for term of October 1, 2016 - September 31, 2018 immediately and provide instructions for a timely refund of the security deposit in the amount of $2,218.
Not a bad letter. It states who he is in relation to Regus (a current tenant), gives the basis (the outstanding security deposit) for the refund demand he will close the letter with, describes the reason why he believes he is entitled to get out of his Regus lease early (temperatures greater than 80 degrees in a place of business that it not a hot-yoga studio), and then he closes with his two-part, time-bound demand:
- Terminate the lease early.
- Refund the security deposit.
- And do this immediately.
Regus told this attorney "no"
Someone from Regus responded, I am told, and basically said "tough cookie, deal with it; we are not letting you out of your lease."
What you have to understand is that this attorney was not then at a loss for what to do next. He knew that he had a good case if he wished to move to a legal proceeding himself: after all, any reasonable person would probably have agreed that Regus had failed to provide what it had promised to provide when this attorney first signed the long-term lease. But here is the thing. Attorneys, like many other professionals--accountants, financial planners, consultants, software and other service providers, for example--have to respect the opportunity costs of how they choose to spend their time; and although there might be thousands of dollars at stake in a case like this against Regus, this attorney decided it would be a better allocation of his resources if he continued to spend his time on client work (billable hours) and instead hire an expert to resolve this niche issue with Regus.
The typical tenant marquis at a Regus office features these types of professionals.
He asked his attorney colleagues to recommend an expert to handle his case.
So this attorney came to Veeto
We help a lot of attorneys solve their own legal issues, and Regus is common party to those legal issues (like this attorney whom we also helped get out of a Regus lease). In fact, about 20% of Veeto members are themselves attorneys, so we get a lot of attorney-to-attorney referrals who reach out to us and say that a colleague recommended Veeto for whatever issue the attorney is facing. And this case came to us that way.
What did Veeto do?
We took the case details, used those to generate a new demand letter--a better one, as you will see--and we delivered it to Regus, but not to Amelia, the person managing that location; we sent it directly to the person who actually has the authority to resolve this type of issue. This all might sound simple, but remember that often simple is not easy; and more importantly, when you are stuck in a multi-year lease worth thousands of dollars, and you need to get out, you cannot afford to accept a "no" from Regus. You need veeto power, something even law schools are not in the business of dispensing.
Outcome?
This attorney is now happily Regus-free: released from the lease early and security deposit refunded.
Want to get out of your Regus contract?
Tell us why, and we take it from there.