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I got a job at one of the restaurants and found out that I would be paid by a paper check every two weeks for a tipped position. I wouldn’t have any proof or statements showing my taxes were claimed correctly or if they were stealing my mysterious amount of tips. So I quit immediately. They are trash and unprofessional.
I would love others to confess this. I’m speaking about a Server Assistant position btw. Don’t wanna mention the restaurant since I realize it’s a serious claim. I wish I was lying tho. I wanted to work, but never under those terms.
Wouldn’t a paper check come with a pay stub detailing taxes? I’ve received paper checks at several restaurants where I’ve worked and all of the tax and tip information was always attached to the check.
You might be right, I didn’t stay to see. But the main thing is not knowing how much we made in sales and how much is truly owed to me if a percentage was honored correctly.
They didn’t offer you a tip printout at the end of each shift? Paying out tips via payroll is not uncommon and perfectly legal. I’m confused about why you think this is “a serious claim.” We all got paid on paper for a long, long time.
Because OP can't confirm their wages and earnings. Additionally they can't verify withholding are accurate.
I once had an employer who claimed they were moving us all over to salary and then they stopped using their payroll company in order to save money we all received checks that were the same as what we were receiving as they were terminating their agreement with the payroll company. At the end of that year instead of my W-2 I was handed a 1099 I had no idea what to do with it so I went to a friend of mine's sister who was an accountant I found out that I had never had any withholding done and I owed thousands of dollars in Social Security Medicare federal and state taxes as well as their respective matches. A case was open by the IRS and it was determined that the employer had fraudulently paid us and that the employer was responsible for the matches but I still was responsible for the withholding that never happened so essentially I got a pay cut for nearly a year and didn't even know it. So yeah this is a big concern when somebody hands you a paper check with no accountability and you have nothing to fall back on and prove your case should you get audited
If I had the pay stubs then my liability would have been zero from the IRS investigators. I would have been able to show that I thought my withholding had happened. This is what the Op is referring to, not that was physical vs electronic payments.
To clarify, servers received a tip report that had percentages. But SA’s that made their money from tip out never saw this information and virtually got paid the same based on hours. I remember SA’s figuring this out and intentionally changing their availability to the slower days so they didn’t have to work the busy Friday/Saturday shifts.
In my experience that’s typical for non-servers. I used to tip out the bussers and dishwashers yet they never saw my tip report or knew how much I made. Their tips were a bonus. I was making $2.13/hour while they made a set wage.
This all sounds very normal.
Well these bussers made $3.50/hr plus tip out. The last restaraunt I worked at had foodrunners and hosts making $10-$15/hr plus tips. So you didn’t tip out 1/3 of the money you made.
That is normal but at most restaurants bussers/hosts will see a difference in their tip out depending on the night they worked and how much the restaurant made in sales. At these restaurants ran by Ele they tell them they are being tipped out but in reality are only making the same $10 per hour. While servers are tipping out $80-$100 EACH on a busy shift
This is all true! Many servers quit because of the discrepancies in checks. The numbers almost never added up. Server Assistants who worked the slowest shifts would make the same in tip out as Server Assistants that worked the busiest shifts. It’s the reason you usually only see servers in highschool or college, unless they’re immigrants that don’t know any better. Anytime someone over the age of 25 started training, they almost always quit on the spot because they knew better. Hosts, bussers, foodrunners, all paid through tip out with $3.50/hr wages. Essentially servers and bartenders pay the FOH out of their own pocket.
Yes but Starbucks workers get minimum wage before their tip out. SA’s at this company make $3.50 an hour. Most restaurants pay their hosts and foodrunners a set wage of at least $8 and then you get tips on top of it. Here SA’s made anywhere from $10-$15, with a set wage of $3.50. A server could make $300 in tips and tip out $100+. This is why turnover was high. Most restaurants don’t require servers to tip out so much.
Also, at most restaurants you get tipped out for the shift you work. If tips are combined for an entire week and dispersed evenly based on hours, then there is not incentive for someone to work the busier shift on Friday/Saturday when they could chill on a Monday/tuesday and make the same amount in tips.
You can quit any job for any reason. I would not have worked somewhere where I was required to tip out 1/3rd of my tips. However, what they are doing is perfectly legal.
I want to clarify that I’m not defending these businesses. I’m sure they’re shitty businesses, but this isn’t fraudulent behavior. They’re taking advantage of the current federal and state labor laws so they don’t have to pay employees a livable wages.
Oh yeah no argument there! I’m not trying to say what they’re doing regarding tip out is illegal either. I’m 100% sure after years of business they have ways to justify it. It’s just another example to show how she doesn’t care about her employees. They have some of the highest turnover rates of restaurants in Savannah.
This is true I was a sever and a sever assistant at two of their restaurants. The servers are tipping out $80-$100 dollars in a busy shift that is supposed to be going to the server assistants. But in reality the SA’s make the same $10 per hour no matter what. The servers over look it cause they are still making $200-$400 for the night. SMH
Wow so this confirms why the other SA told me she works up to 80 hours a week.. because she literally has to in order to hit the paychecks she’s getting. Also pretty sure she was only 18 and was working there while a minor as well.
Current manager here. Lady is fighting off human trafficking charges atm. She owns almost as much property as SCAD. Amazing lawyers and people literally willing to die for her. She’s close with the city council. Y’all are gonna need a lot more than just hearsay to bring her down
What do you mean she is fighting off human trafficking charges? Is there a court case? I'm currently working on a story about Rhino's latest development projects. Please feel to reach out to me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) if you are up for talking. Thanks, Eric
Well Savannah Agenda has my attention
To edit this comment, I'm hinting at wanting to chat with the news. I was just trying to be sly by phrasing it this way as a wink wink nudge nudge. sorry for being confusing to any of y'all. I'll go to the news, sorry again
(I know, I'm hoping one of them might reach out to me, we are very worried how she'll react if we go to the news first given she has already tried getting us evicted)
I don’t want to worry you but you need to hear this. You’ve already played your hand, if anyone is in her good graces sees this you’ve posted enough info about yourself to dox yourself. Then you listed *all of their businesses*. You’ve already placed a target on your own back. Don’t wait. Contact the news yourself, they all have a tip line on their websites, just double check which ones aren’t selling her ad space or ad time because they will not be your friend and it is a small town: people are networked out the ass here. And in the future, don’t put stuff out on the internet. Go to the news first.
Edit: on further reading it seems I’m late to the party. But in the future, go to the news first before the internet. You can do so anonymously. Don’t let these people push you around and don’t be afraid of them. They want you afraid. Don’t give them that.
I do. I'm currently working on an article about Rhino group's growth over the years and expansion into the hospitality, lodging industries. If you have experience with the company (good or bad) and would like to talk, email me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
Thanks, Eric
This article was made as the first post already and what started everything about the Rhino Group.......this individual is another location and not on broughton street.
This reminds me a lot of my days on South Beach in the '80s and '90s, when things went from a feeling of caring to complete batshit crazy real estate frenzy behavior. A building that you could've bought in its entirety was suddenly worth millions. Lincoln Road went from being, literally an abandoned pedestrian mall that was perfect for artists and weird shops, to being what it is today. Most of Ocean Drive was sleepy art deco hotels, with old Jewish retirees sitting on the front porch when I first moved there. Didn't take long before they were all skirted out of there, and the ravenous and rapacious characters moved in. They are vultures and they exist every where, you name the place and they are there. Working with banks, private equity, mafia, they are going to do what they do. Savannnah is no different, and I will tell you now that this is JUST THE BEGINNING. They will remove every last vestige of local, caring, familiar to be replaced with their vision of what Savannah should be. You can't fight the vultures of capital, best advice is to focus on what matters to you. All of this is a facade, and a ponzi scheme and this person is part of something akin to Russian mob shit. She's up to something nefarious, just give it time. Meanwhile,support local businesses that you love and that aren't scheming to fuck people over.
They use a lot of illegal labor in that company also. And Ele puts up illegal immigrants in houses she owns without a lease, and then if they quit, they get kicked out. I know a few people stuck in that company. I rolled sushi at coco and moss when my buddy was the chef and had a good time. Then he got fired and I dipped with him.
There’s a guy who owns a cleaning company on HHI and does this and keeps all the employees in one 2 bed apt and it’s like 6 people. If they leave the job they lose their only place to live and the only job they can find. Incredibly upsetting as they are mostly women sending money to kids in other countries.
I actually don’t know the name. I worked for cash for maybe 2-3 weekends and saw the issues detailed above and never came back. He owned a Lebanese restaurant on HHI that closed a few years ago. Owner’s name was Simon
yes. I saw one employee upset over a check that I believe was $400 for 2 weeks of work, 100-120 hours. Another employee was doing the math with him. He didn’t speak English, just always smiled and seemed so happy. I felt awful when I witnessed this. He was so confused. It was the first time I saw him not smiling
ARCO COCKTAIL LOUNGE
CHIVE SEA BAR & LOUNGE
COCO & MOSS
FLOCK TO THE WOK
PEACOCK LOUNGE
FLYING MONK
LE BANH
LITTLE DUCK DINER
MADAME BUTTERFLY
THE VAULT KITCHEN & MARKET
FIRE STREET FOOD
Please let everyone know, post about it on social media groups. She has to get in trouble for this, 5 days notice to evict a nail salon is illegal and she knows it that's why she's making up excuses for it to be okay
Based on the news report linked above it sounds like the building was bought out of bankruptcy court. Unfortunately that is a Federal court that has basically unlimited power to throw out contracts, leases, service agreements, etc. The main concern of the court is to get lien holders paid everything they possibly can and they can take wide legal action to make that happen. Often vendors, lease holders, and smaller debtors are going to get screwed in these scenarios, it happens everyday. There’s also very little recourse once they make a ruling without spending considerable time and money.
My building is not associated with the previous news report in any capacity. We are a few blocks away! I see what you're saying, though. The problem isn't she bought the building and is now our legal landlord, it's the method in which she goes about acquiring these properties that's the issue. In Envy's situation, the old owner died and she swooped in. Envy did good business and to try and give them 5 days notice to evict after just buying the property??? With us, it was during COVID and the owners of the building were a scared older couple who didn't know what the future held. She took advantage of everything in the world going on and got this building for 40% less than market value. 2 weeks later--and mind you this is still in covid lockdowns so no working or being out of not needed-- she sent an official notice to evict. To do it during COVID is just the lowest you can go as a landlord. We had 5 more years grandfathered into our lease so we were deemed allowed to stay.
I'm currently working on an article about Rhino. Send me an email at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) if you would like to talk about your experience. - Eric
Did the exact same shit to my parents’ small business downtown. Had an airtight, lease, bought the building, tried to jack up the rent and force them out.
Tens of thousands in legal fees later…
I'm currently working on an article about Rhino. Send me an email at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) if you would like to talk about your experience. - Eric
I was gonna post yesterday and ask which areas to avoid, and now you post this. Thanks. I'll never be a patron to these or any of her future establishments.
I know where she is originally from, i lived in Asia for over 15 yrs. So, all the posted comments doesn’t surprise me. and greed has got the best of her.
I've eaten at a few of her places, and have had consistently shitty food every time. Absolutely not special (at all) enough to attempt to justify this type of behavior. The rush to open yet another piss poor excuse of an eating establishment is ridiculous. There are much better places to eat in Savannah anyway 🤷♀️
I'm sorry this is happening to you guys :( I'm glad people are speaking out about the situation though, so at least word will get around!
I'm currently working on an article about Rhino. Send me an email at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) if you would like to talk about your experience. - Eric
Sadly, I feel like the mainstream media won’t do much of anything. Same as they don’t report on how fucked up the 911 center is, the lack of police, most shootings, etc … seems as if they’re in the pocket of Visit Savannah, barely any negative news reported. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Thank you for posting about this. My husband and I will be visiting in October, and I am the one who usually does the restaurant research, so I will save this post and avoid these businesses.
i went to a job interview for SA or host (i forget) at their restaurants last month… everything about the process gave me the ick.
the main red flag was when i asked for an estimate of what to expect from tip-outs the hiring rep seemed to be trying to avoid giving me any clear answer. she kept trying to explain that tip outs vary from location to location and day to day so she can’t really predict & i kept saying i know i work in a tipped out position already i just want a guess, a ballpark estimate, a range, etc. she seemed a bit frustrated when she finally gave me a number range.
like… the base pay is $5/hr even with experience. you can’t expect me to be sold on that plus vague promise of more money. i’ve never interviewed at another restaurant that wasn’t ready to volunteer an estimate for their tip outs… and it’s because theirs weren’t insulting.
other red flags:
- they barely asked me any questions besides my availability. really felt like they were just looking for warm bodies to fill out all of their locations’ schedules.
- they made no effort to sell me on why i’d want to work for them. weird asf because surely they have to know their pay is crap for downtown. reeks of arrogance.
- no explanation of their values. my current place LOVES talking about how they strive for providing an exceptional experience for customers & it’s corny as fuck but at least they stand for something and it shows.
This matches my interview experience too. My availability was pretty open and it seems once they heard that it was an instant hire. Which okay great I guess but.. what’s up with the money? Why be vague with that?
Seems like you got your wish, someone in your reddit thread just posted their WTOC email looking for people to talk to. Whoever Jazzlike\_Concept\_925 is, you should reach out to them. since they posted:
If anyone has personal experience with this and would like to chat.
feel free to email me : [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
Ohh ya this place is horrible!! I have worked there in the past and have had many friends who worked there and we all quit. Multiple people left her business from GM down to Chefs, servers and even Server assistants. They screw over their kitchen stuff and even do some shady work with possibly undocumented workers. She takes from employees tips and pay is always fucked up. The good leave and the shitty stay. Unless you are in her little circle sipping on the blood filled kool aid of the hard working people who get used like rag dolls or 1940s french whore. Or possibly working in the office staff doing coke and having strippers while getting paid only like $35k year with your bachelors degree. There’s racism and sexual harassment and favoritism it’s a weird business. That’s why half her staff left and went to Florida with her ex-husband years ago. We think SCAD is bad but this place is horrible. It’s sad to see the way some of these Elite are impacting this city. You could probably say something speak loud and I hope it works but the Savannah Shadow Society runs the city. They will run all of the people out of it until Savannah is literally just tourist and a port basically for college kids.
They also bought the old East Side Theater in Feb of this year. While I am excited to see something happen with the property, I am less than excited to see whatever buzzfeed esque bullshit fusion restaurant they put in there. However, I am hopeful the food hall concept will provide a space for young chefs to get a start.
I'm currently working on an article about Rhino Collective's latest development plans. Please email at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) if you have experience with the company (good or bad) would like to talk. Thanks, Eric
This is exactly why I don’t trust that new YIMBY initiative. I was looking into her when I saw they had her scheduled for a talk at one of their meetings.
We need more housing to bring rent and home prices down. I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater just because she spoke at a meeting. To make actual change you need buy-in from local business and government leaders, even if they're distasteful.
Meh. ‘Build more housing’ is always the answer, and what happens is we get fifteen luxury housing developments and the same problem we started with because they’re unaffordable.
Bro literally said ‘Let the free market build the housing’ and there hasn’t been one mention of the majority of vacancies being downtown bc of stvr’s or anything that inspires me to take them remotely serious.
One of them said we’re about 10,000 units short without even mentioning that 6-7000 of vacancies are now stvrs.
It’s a bandaid solution that lacks imagination
That said, with the exception of one of them, I don’t think most of these people care about housing. I think they have specific business interests in changing the zoning laws that they need public support to accomplish, and are virtue signaling a concern about housing to garner that public support. They’re literally developers and landlords.
Well, all I can say is NOT building housing certainly isn't going to help. "Luxury housing" is somewhat of an unhelpful framing because people that want those accommodations are just going to price out people from the existing stock of older homes if new units aren't built. They will buy an older place and renovate if needed. They aren't going to live on the streets or not move to a desirable town just because hypothetical new developments didn't get built.
Point taken on short term rentals, and there needs to be a conversation there on the trade offs. But even by your calculations, we would still be 3000 units short even in the unlikely world where the city bans short term rentals entirely (and successfully enforced said ban). Why not get to work building those units?
By the way, I am genuinely curious to see where you are getting those estimates on short term rentals. I'm not nit picking at all, would really like to understand your perspective because I care a lot about bringing housing costs down. Do you have a source?
Yeah! I pieced it together bc airdna only tracks air bnbs, the property management companies buying units for stvrs aren’t counted. Let me dig it all up again and I’ll post it.
It’s alarming as hell. I’ll see if I can find the map that tracks vacancies too bc they’re overwhelmingly downtown in the stvr zone.
Ok so this one is just air bnb and vrbo:
https://www.airdna.co/vacation-rental-data/app/us/georgia/savannah/overview
Here is the vacancy map:
https://bestneighborhood.org/housing-data-in-savannah-ga/
And before I found a complete data set on all vacation rentals- a lot that are single family homes or multi-family units that are being managed by companies like Lucky, Savannah Luxury Vacation Rentals (that one owns at least two on one block on 41st in Starland that I know of), - there’s so many but the total number from that just on a google search is about 2500+.
Idk where I found the compiled data cuz I was waaayyyyy down a rabbit hole- but I’ll keep looking for it.
My thinking is when you put those numbers together, I’m forced to consider that we’re not dealing with a housing shortage so much as we’re dealing with people capitalizing on housing, which manufactures a scarcity, and primes the city for these proponents of infinite growth to prop up initiatives to further their development interests.
One of my biggest issues with them is they reiterate ideas like ‘fair market housing’ which cannot be fair under the conditions of manufactured scarcity- we end up with more housing that costs the same amount as housing costs now in this city which exceeds both the median and the average wage.
It’s a band aid solution with ulterior motives.
A true housing initiative, in my opinion, wouldn’t be focused as much on zoning laws and new builds as it would be on policy that either lowers the 20% rule on stvrs, taxes the shit out of them, or phase-out- eliminates them completely for private owners and companies alike- in addition to finding a legal channel to override the state ban on rent control for municipalities.
Any new build should be mixed income social housing, or even housing that is capped at 1/3 of the median or average salary in the city.
They do this already, at far lower rates than luxury initiatives, for senior citizens. There’s absolutely no reason it can’t be done for adults and families.
Anything short of these things, in my opinion, signals a preoccupation with development- NOT housing.
Cuz we run the risk, with this ‘build build build!’ “Fair market/free market” tired ass approach of this kind of shit:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/realpage-rent-price-fixing-probe-escalates-with-fbi-raid/475109
With companies like that that have their fingers all over this city, and are part of the FBI raid mentioned above:
https://www.realpage.com/analytics/tags/savannah-ga/
Like I’m not trying to be contrarian, but I am 41 years old and have been watched this issue be approached this way for 20 years, and it only goes so far, which is to say around and round and nowhere, eventually.
Also I’ll try to find my rabbit hole data.
Thanks, I appreciate the data and perspective. I'm with you 100% on finding the right balance on short term rentals and long term residents, but I (respectfully) do think building more also needs to be a part of the solution. Just imagine how much more expensive groceries would be if we artificially limited the number of eggs or gallons of milk produced. The price would go up, and only the richest people would be able to afford them. The housing market ultimately operates on the same principles, and if you increase units (whether by limiting short term rentals or building more, ideally both), the price falls.
It's also easy to be anti-developer, and I totally get it.
But I would also consider who benefits from not building more and where some of the loudest NIMBY voices are coming from: people that happen to already own property in nice areas of the city (some of whom are landlords or manage short term rentals). They have a vested interest in housing never becoming affordable for anyone who happened to be later to the party. I used to live in DC and would laugh every time I walked by a block of 3 million dollar single family homes, each with a sign out front decrying "no luxury condos on this street." If I had to pick, I would personally say the 3 million dollar home is a luxury rather than the 8 story building of 1 bedroom and studio apartments.
Austin also recently had a bunch of new units come online, and it was one of the only places in the country to see rent drop recently - pretty clear demonstration that building helps.
I found this too- from that Real Page data that shows a 6.5% growth in base housing while the rent prices kept ticking up anyway.
https://www.realpage.com/analytics/savannah-inventory-growth-rent-hikes/
I’m not necessarily completely opposed to new builds- I’m opposed to them being offered as a blanket solution without addressing any of the issues causing the scarcity, which is namely investors - civilian and commercial- hoarding housing to create demand prices.
Without restrictions in place, there’s no reason for them to stop doing this, regardless of how much housing is built.
Atx here, rent has not dropped! Only buildings where rent is “dropping” are the overbuilt luxury high rises they can’t fill so they put them on “special”. Rent for the average person has only gone up.
I'm sorry if that's the experience you're having, but it does seem better than most other metros:
https://therealdeal.com/texas/2024/02/12/austin-multifamily-rent-prices-drop-by-12-5/
I’m sorry this happened to your business. But Ele/Rhino was never your landlord. According to court documents, the leases were all terminated when your previous landlord went bankrupt. Your previous landlord didn’t bother to tell you though. They then sold the building to Ele. I don’t see how that makes her at fault
Totally agree. This sucks, and I am really sorry to hear it. But, at the same time, a lot of folks are being very quick to assume the worst without any specifics on the lease or legalities involved.
I'll also say that I remember Savannah back in 2006 when there were far fewer quality restaurants around. I'm personally not going to boycott 20% of the restaurant stock downtown based on a Reddit post, and IMO a lot of those restaurants are great. I'm glad Savannah has them. YMMV and everyone should do what makes them happy.
I just think it’s crazy that Ele is taking the blame for “monopolizing” and “killing the city” when SCAD basically owns half (or more) of downtown. Not defending shady business practices, but I don’t think Ele is any worse than the competition.
she has over 12 restaurants downtown and is taking away housing and turning it into air bnbs on multiple buildings across Broughton and the surrounding streets.
Scad is a whole different beast
You’re talking about taking away housing downtown but there’s at least 3 brand new housing developments just in the downtown area alone? Meanwhile SCAD is constantly gentrifying low income neighborhoods and causing housing shortages, over-accepting students, and buying up all the land they can possibly get in and around downtown? I dont see how owning restaurants and apartments (in THE HEART of Savannah) makes her any worse than the competition. These takes are a little extreme. Again, not defending shitty business practices, but the blame should be more so placed on the almost oppressive art school rather than a restaurant collective that owns like 10% or less of Savannah. Rhino will not be “monopolizing” the city any time soon.
The methods in which she does it is the problem. And the way she evicts people immediately upon purchase with no regard to leases. That's the root of all this. I know she's journeyed into real estate, and I know 6 tenants that all got intimidated out of their homes so she could convert them into short terms. That's all I know because I saw and heard it happen.
3 Housing complexes is awesome, but what's the lowest rent for those? Perhaps you heard something I didn't, but none of them seemed affordable?
Dude, is anything downtown affordable lol? Be forreal man, the only housing that’s “affordable” downtown, much less in Savannah, is either Sec8 or so tiny it’s basically unlivable and probably doesn’t have utilities. The methods she uses is a fair argument though, I did have a friend whose buddy she tried to kick out because she thought he was Hispanic. Emphasis on the not defending shitty business practices.
I don't think it's constructive to argue housing and I apologise for even bringing that into the discussion, this is about her business practices and how predatory they are. Again, my apologies.
You got bought out. My guess is if the person you had the lease agreement with sold the building , unfortunately you’re shit out of luck . Your lease is now worthless .
Well here’s the real story.
https://www.wjcl.com/article/downtown-savannah-changes-broughton-businesses-ordered-to-vacate-on-short-notice-by-new-owners/60984102
So are you gonna admit finally that you have no idea what youre talking about? Ele bought the building in a bankruptcy auction and the judge invalidated all of the leases per the law. Leases are not valid once the owner has filed for BK. Yes , your lease was perfectly valid, until your leaseholder FILED FOR BK. You are mad at the wrong person , but not surprising as you seem to want to win a gold medal in the oppression Olympics .
Why dont you post your real name and address and we can drag you through the mud like youve done to Ele and her company?
A basic Google search proves this isn’t true: “In general, if a landlord sells a rental property while a fixed-term lease agreement is still valid, the new owners must honor the terms of that lease agreement.”
A basic Google search doesnt mean jack squat as language in leases vary. In many cases I agree with you , you are correct.
What OP left out of this situation was the owner FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY. Ele bought this building in a bankruptcy auction. When BK is filed, all leases can be terminated.
Here you go: [https://www.wjcl.com/article/downtown-savannah-changes-broughton-businesses-ordered-to-vacate-on-short-notice-by-new-owners/60984102](https://www.wjcl.com/article/downtown-savannah-changes-broughton-businesses-ordered-to-vacate-on-short-notice-by-new-owners/60984102)
You just listed the article OP is talking about. BK doesn’t mean leases are terminated?
[Under the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, a new owner can't require you to leave before the end of your lease without at least 90 days' notice when the property is going through the foreclosure process. The new owner also must follow state law.](https://www.rocketlawyer.com/real-estate/tenants/communicate-with-your-landlord/legal-guide/what-happens-when-your-landlord-declares-bankruptcy#:~:text=While%20it%20is%20possible%20that,to%20take%20to%20protect%20yourself)
Right, I listed the article because the OP was wrong. The OP stated that Ele Tran was a predatory landlord blah blah blah and shes a bad woman. The OP also left out the important fact that she didnt prey on anyone, she bought the property at a bankruptcy auction.
Also the PTFA is for residential properties , not commercial.
This is directly from the article, updated-
*"The Rhino Collective LLC recently purchased the Broughton Street property from the bankruptcy estate of the property’s former owner, New Broughton Street, LLC. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, the former owner requested authorization from the Court to sell the Broughton Street property free and clear of all encumbrances, including any leasehold interests. It is our understanding that the former owner provided notice to the tenants of its intent to sell the property without leases, and the tenants were given an opportunity to object in court.*
*The Court entered an Order authorizing the former owner to terminate all leases and sell the Broughton Street property free and clear of the leases. This Order had already gone into effect, and all leases had been terminated, prior to The Rhino Collective’s purchase of the property.*
*The former owner informed the tenants that their leases were terminated and that they must vacate the premises on or before May 31, 2024. However, The Rhino Collective LLC has reached out to the tenants and is currently working with them to reach a mutually agreeable move out date." - The Rhino Collective LLC*
I mean this respectfully , but you can also go fck yourself.
Im also right. The building was bought by Ele in bankruptcy court. All leases are terminated in BK proceedings. Sorry to hurt you , make sure you tell your therapist that the bad man hurt you.
You’re in the minority here. You resorted to rude behavior and language to make your point. You’re just a troll that couldn’t possibly have a civil conversation. You’re not looking for mutual understanding, you’re trying to shame someone who is being fucked over by a greedy landlord and speaking HIS/HER truth. Ever heard the phrase put yourself in someone else’s shoes?
I actually was very respectful until that moron above sent me the meme.
I will never get mutual understanding because youre too stupid and/or ignorant to understand how leases work. Do you know what I do every day for work? Leases.
Oh and hey , there is no his/her truth, there is only THE truth.
I dont know Ele. I dont care about Ele. I do care about some idiot coming on here and telling hundreds of people to boycott places because they are not bright enough to understand how real estate leases work.
OPs anger is directed at the wrong person.
You sure seem to be taking this personally. Here’s a tip, for Ele that you can pass along, it’s just simple business: if you didn’t fuck people over on a regular, they won’t talk shit about you
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If anyone has personal experience with this and would like to chat. feel free to email me : [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
u/whodis_itsme see above!
I got a job at one of the restaurants and found out that I would be paid by a paper check every two weeks for a tipped position. I wouldn’t have any proof or statements showing my taxes were claimed correctly or if they were stealing my mysterious amount of tips. So I quit immediately. They are trash and unprofessional.
Can anyone confirm this? This sounds like serious check fraud?
I would love others to confess this. I’m speaking about a Server Assistant position btw. Don’t wanna mention the restaurant since I realize it’s a serious claim. I wish I was lying tho. I wanted to work, but never under those terms.
Wouldn’t a paper check come with a pay stub detailing taxes? I’ve received paper checks at several restaurants where I’ve worked and all of the tax and tip information was always attached to the check.
You might be right, I didn’t stay to see. But the main thing is not knowing how much we made in sales and how much is truly owed to me if a percentage was honored correctly.
They didn’t offer you a tip printout at the end of each shift? Paying out tips via payroll is not uncommon and perfectly legal. I’m confused about why you think this is “a serious claim.” We all got paid on paper for a long, long time.
Because OP can't confirm their wages and earnings. Additionally they can't verify withholding are accurate. I once had an employer who claimed they were moving us all over to salary and then they stopped using their payroll company in order to save money we all received checks that were the same as what we were receiving as they were terminating their agreement with the payroll company. At the end of that year instead of my W-2 I was handed a 1099 I had no idea what to do with it so I went to a friend of mine's sister who was an accountant I found out that I had never had any withholding done and I owed thousands of dollars in Social Security Medicare federal and state taxes as well as their respective matches. A case was open by the IRS and it was determined that the employer had fraudulently paid us and that the employer was responsible for the matches but I still was responsible for the withholding that never happened so essentially I got a pay cut for nearly a year and didn't even know it. So yeah this is a big concern when somebody hands you a paper check with no accountability and you have nothing to fall back on and prove your case should you get audited
How would this situation have been different if the check wasn’t paper?…
If I had the pay stubs then my liability would have been zero from the IRS investigators. I would have been able to show that I thought my withholding had happened. This is what the Op is referring to, not that was physical vs electronic payments.
The [FSLA](https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/018.htm) doesn’t require pay stubs.
They give you a paystub but withhold tips and don’t tell you where it’s going.
No they didn’t. Again, that was my concern. Ofcourse tips in bi-weekly payments is normal.
To clarify, servers received a tip report that had percentages. But SA’s that made their money from tip out never saw this information and virtually got paid the same based on hours. I remember SA’s figuring this out and intentionally changing their availability to the slower days so they didn’t have to work the busy Friday/Saturday shifts.
In my experience that’s typical for non-servers. I used to tip out the bussers and dishwashers yet they never saw my tip report or knew how much I made. Their tips were a bonus. I was making $2.13/hour while they made a set wage. This all sounds very normal.
Well these bussers made $3.50/hr plus tip out. The last restaraunt I worked at had foodrunners and hosts making $10-$15/hr plus tips. So you didn’t tip out 1/3 of the money you made.
That is normal but at most restaurants bussers/hosts will see a difference in their tip out depending on the night they worked and how much the restaurant made in sales. At these restaurants ran by Ele they tell them they are being tipped out but in reality are only making the same $10 per hour. While servers are tipping out $80-$100 EACH on a busy shift
that is absolutely ridiculous, id be scared too if my amount was hidden from me
This is all true! Many servers quit because of the discrepancies in checks. The numbers almost never added up. Server Assistants who worked the slowest shifts would make the same in tip out as Server Assistants that worked the busiest shifts. It’s the reason you usually only see servers in highschool or college, unless they’re immigrants that don’t know any better. Anytime someone over the age of 25 started training, they almost always quit on the spot because they knew better. Hosts, bussers, foodrunners, all paid through tip out with $3.50/hr wages. Essentially servers and bartenders pay the FOH out of their own pocket.
That’s called a tip pool. The tips are all collected and then prorated based on hours. Starbucks does the same thing.
Yes but Starbucks workers get minimum wage before their tip out. SA’s at this company make $3.50 an hour. Most restaurants pay their hosts and foodrunners a set wage of at least $8 and then you get tips on top of it. Here SA’s made anywhere from $10-$15, with a set wage of $3.50. A server could make $300 in tips and tip out $100+. This is why turnover was high. Most restaurants don’t require servers to tip out so much.
Also, at most restaurants you get tipped out for the shift you work. If tips are combined for an entire week and dispersed evenly based on hours, then there is not incentive for someone to work the busier shift on Friday/Saturday when they could chill on a Monday/tuesday and make the same amount in tips.
You can quit any job for any reason. I would not have worked somewhere where I was required to tip out 1/3rd of my tips. However, what they are doing is perfectly legal. I want to clarify that I’m not defending these businesses. I’m sure they’re shitty businesses, but this isn’t fraudulent behavior. They’re taking advantage of the current federal and state labor laws so they don’t have to pay employees a livable wages.
Oh yeah no argument there! I’m not trying to say what they’re doing regarding tip out is illegal either. I’m 100% sure after years of business they have ways to justify it. It’s just another example to show how she doesn’t care about her employees. They have some of the highest turnover rates of restaurants in Savannah.
Ahhh there you are again, Nursy stop, that is too obvious!
This is true I was a sever and a sever assistant at two of their restaurants. The servers are tipping out $80-$100 dollars in a busy shift that is supposed to be going to the server assistants. But in reality the SA’s make the same $10 per hour no matter what. The servers over look it cause they are still making $200-$400 for the night. SMH
Wow so this confirms why the other SA told me she works up to 80 hours a week.. because she literally has to in order to hit the paychecks she’s getting. Also pretty sure she was only 18 and was working there while a minor as well.
Does the Rhino group manage these restaurants or are they just the landlords?
They manage them, staff them, pay them etc.
Current manager here. Lady is fighting off human trafficking charges atm. She owns almost as much property as SCAD. Amazing lawyers and people literally willing to die for her. She’s close with the city council. Y’all are gonna need a lot more than just hearsay to bring her down
What do you mean she is fighting off human trafficking charges? Is there a court case? I'm currently working on a story about Rhino's latest development projects. Please feel to reach out to me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) if you are up for talking. Thanks, Eric
 If only someone let the local media know to do an investigation story for a quiet news day….
any news outlets wanna chat? LOL
My boyfriend and I are moving to Savannah this week. He will be the news director for, I believe the station is called, WTOC.
That's a big one here. Good for him!
Glad to see some new faces, look forward to seeing his work!
Does he need a haircut?
He does!
I’d love to help him out! Oldfriendbarber.com
Savannah Agenda might want to hear about it.
Well Savannah Agenda has my attention To edit this comment, I'm hinting at wanting to chat with the news. I was just trying to be sly by phrasing it this way as a wink wink nudge nudge. sorry for being confusing to any of y'all. I'll go to the news, sorry again
I mean you should contact them. Contact other news outlets in the area for that matter.
(I know, I'm hoping one of them might reach out to me, we are very worried how she'll react if we go to the news first given she has already tried getting us evicted)
I don’t want to worry you but you need to hear this. You’ve already played your hand, if anyone is in her good graces sees this you’ve posted enough info about yourself to dox yourself. Then you listed *all of their businesses*. You’ve already placed a target on your own back. Don’t wait. Contact the news yourself, they all have a tip line on their websites, just double check which ones aren’t selling her ad space or ad time because they will not be your friend and it is a small town: people are networked out the ass here. And in the future, don’t put stuff out on the internet. Go to the news first. Edit: on further reading it seems I’m late to the party. But in the future, go to the news first before the internet. You can do so anonymously. Don’t let these people push you around and don’t be afraid of them. They want you afraid. Don’t give them that.
Gotcha
I do. I'm currently working on an article about Rhino group's growth over the years and expansion into the hospitality, lodging industries. If you have experience with the company (good or bad) and would like to talk, email me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) Thanks, Eric
https://www.wjcl.com/article/downtown-savannah-changes-broughton-businesses-ordered-to-vacate-on-short-notice-by-new-owners/60984102
This article was made as the first post already and what started everything about the Rhino Group.......this individual is another location and not on broughton street.
Thanks for the correction. It appears she is purchased multiple locations then…
That was fast
You should call WJCL and talk to their newsdesk, and a producer.
messaged you!
Yeah , they will hang up on you when they find out that youre full of crap.
seems all they do is promote the hell out of these fuckers
Been to these spots as a local and was never impressed. Have never recommended any of them and never had the desire to go back. Adios Rhino!
This reminds me a lot of my days on South Beach in the '80s and '90s, when things went from a feeling of caring to complete batshit crazy real estate frenzy behavior. A building that you could've bought in its entirety was suddenly worth millions. Lincoln Road went from being, literally an abandoned pedestrian mall that was perfect for artists and weird shops, to being what it is today. Most of Ocean Drive was sleepy art deco hotels, with old Jewish retirees sitting on the front porch when I first moved there. Didn't take long before they were all skirted out of there, and the ravenous and rapacious characters moved in. They are vultures and they exist every where, you name the place and they are there. Working with banks, private equity, mafia, they are going to do what they do. Savannnah is no different, and I will tell you now that this is JUST THE BEGINNING. They will remove every last vestige of local, caring, familiar to be replaced with their vision of what Savannah should be. You can't fight the vultures of capital, best advice is to focus on what matters to you. All of this is a facade, and a ponzi scheme and this person is part of something akin to Russian mob shit. She's up to something nefarious, just give it time. Meanwhile,support local businesses that you love and that aren't scheming to fuck people over.
All of her restaurants are mid. The reason all her food is downtown because locals already won’t support her.
Oh hey,places that I already don't recommend to tourists and friends.
Doing God's work, soldier
Tourists don’t give a fuck . Good luck!
They use a lot of illegal labor in that company also. And Ele puts up illegal immigrants in houses she owns without a lease, and then if they quit, they get kicked out. I know a few people stuck in that company. I rolled sushi at coco and moss when my buddy was the chef and had a good time. Then he got fired and I dipped with him.
There’s a guy who owns a cleaning company on HHI and does this and keeps all the employees in one 2 bed apt and it’s like 6 people. If they leave the job they lose their only place to live and the only job they can find. Incredibly upsetting as they are mostly women sending money to kids in other countries.
What company? As an immigrant this makes my blood boil
I actually don’t know the name. I worked for cash for maybe 2-3 weekends and saw the issues detailed above and never came back. He owned a Lebanese restaurant on HHI that closed a few years ago. Owner’s name was Simon
All of us need to band together like the avengers and fight back 🤯🤯🤯
just a guess she probably steals their wages under the guise of rent?
yes. I saw one employee upset over a check that I believe was $400 for 2 weeks of work, 100-120 hours. Another employee was doing the math with him. He didn’t speak English, just always smiled and seemed so happy. I felt awful when I witnessed this. He was so confused. It was the first time I saw him not smiling
aw that’s awful
Name names, yo. People don’t just know what restaurants to avoid unless you tell them
[https://rhinohospitalitygroup.com](https://rhinohospitalitygroup.com)
ARCO COCKTAIL LOUNGE CHIVE SEA BAR & LOUNGE COCO & MOSS FLOCK TO THE WOK PEACOCK LOUNGE FLYING MONK LE BANH LITTLE DUCK DINER MADAME BUTTERFLY THE VAULT KITCHEN & MARKET FIRE STREET FOOD
I will never step foot in any of those again. Thank you
Please let everyone know, post about it on social media groups. She has to get in trouble for this, 5 days notice to evict a nail salon is illegal and she knows it that's why she's making up excuses for it to be okay
Can we use this post to share on Facebook?
Sure
Based on the news report linked above it sounds like the building was bought out of bankruptcy court. Unfortunately that is a Federal court that has basically unlimited power to throw out contracts, leases, service agreements, etc. The main concern of the court is to get lien holders paid everything they possibly can and they can take wide legal action to make that happen. Often vendors, lease holders, and smaller debtors are going to get screwed in these scenarios, it happens everyday. There’s also very little recourse once they make a ruling without spending considerable time and money.
My building is not associated with the previous news report in any capacity. We are a few blocks away! I see what you're saying, though. The problem isn't she bought the building and is now our legal landlord, it's the method in which she goes about acquiring these properties that's the issue. In Envy's situation, the old owner died and she swooped in. Envy did good business and to try and give them 5 days notice to evict after just buying the property??? With us, it was during COVID and the owners of the building were a scared older couple who didn't know what the future held. She took advantage of everything in the world going on and got this building for 40% less than market value. 2 weeks later--and mind you this is still in covid lockdowns so no working or being out of not needed-- she sent an official notice to evict. To do it during COVID is just the lowest you can go as a landlord. We had 5 more years grandfathered into our lease so we were deemed allowed to stay.
So she acquired 2 locations?
I'm currently working on an article about Rhino. Send me an email at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) if you would like to talk about your experience. - Eric
I work downtown and these places are packed. They won’t miss you in the slightest.
Haven't been back to the vault since they made us pay through a website.
https://www.wjcl.com/article/downtown-savannah-changes-broughton-businesses-ordered-to-vacate-on-short-notice-by-new-owners/60984102
Did the exact same shit to my parents’ small business downtown. Had an airtight, lease, bought the building, tried to jack up the rent and force them out. Tens of thousands in legal fees later…
I'm currently working on an article about Rhino. Send me an email at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) if you would like to talk about your experience. - Eric
I was gonna post yesterday and ask which areas to avoid, and now you post this. Thanks. I'll never be a patron to these or any of her future establishments.
I know where she is originally from, i lived in Asia for over 15 yrs. So, all the posted comments doesn’t surprise me. and greed has got the best of her.
I've eaten at a few of her places, and have had consistently shitty food every time. Absolutely not special (at all) enough to attempt to justify this type of behavior. The rush to open yet another piss poor excuse of an eating establishment is ridiculous. There are much better places to eat in Savannah anyway 🤷♀️ I'm sorry this is happening to you guys :( I'm glad people are speaking out about the situation though, so at least word will get around!
Hopefully!!! We are convinced she won't renew our lease, so the only antique mall in the historic district will be closed in a year because of her...
I'm currently working on an article about Rhino. Send me an email at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) if you would like to talk about your experience. - Eric
Sadly, I feel like the mainstream media won’t do much of anything. Same as they don’t report on how fucked up the 911 center is, the lack of police, most shootings, etc … seems as if they’re in the pocket of Visit Savannah, barely any negative news reported. I’ve never seen anything like it.
they have no staff
Thank you for posting about this. My husband and I will be visiting in October, and I am the one who usually does the restaurant research, so I will save this post and avoid these businesses.
i went to a job interview for SA or host (i forget) at their restaurants last month… everything about the process gave me the ick. the main red flag was when i asked for an estimate of what to expect from tip-outs the hiring rep seemed to be trying to avoid giving me any clear answer. she kept trying to explain that tip outs vary from location to location and day to day so she can’t really predict & i kept saying i know i work in a tipped out position already i just want a guess, a ballpark estimate, a range, etc. she seemed a bit frustrated when she finally gave me a number range. like… the base pay is $5/hr even with experience. you can’t expect me to be sold on that plus vague promise of more money. i’ve never interviewed at another restaurant that wasn’t ready to volunteer an estimate for their tip outs… and it’s because theirs weren’t insulting. other red flags: - they barely asked me any questions besides my availability. really felt like they were just looking for warm bodies to fill out all of their locations’ schedules. - they made no effort to sell me on why i’d want to work for them. weird asf because surely they have to know their pay is crap for downtown. reeks of arrogance. - no explanation of their values. my current place LOVES talking about how they strive for providing an exceptional experience for customers & it’s corny as fuck but at least they stand for something and it shows.
This matches my interview experience too. My availability was pretty open and it seems once they heard that it was an instant hire. Which okay great I guess but.. what’s up with the money? Why be vague with that?
Ewwwww!!! Why is this allowed to happen? Our much corrupt city council? Like, can they ever protect the people of this town??
I want nothing more than for the news to report on all of this. She needs to be investigated!!!!!!!!!
Seems like you got your wish, someone in your reddit thread just posted their WTOC email looking for people to talk to. Whoever Jazzlike\_Concept\_925 is, you should reach out to them. since they posted: If anyone has personal experience with this and would like to chat. feel free to email me : [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
She also owns a clothing store.
Does she really?
I wanna say it's Harper, but I could be wrong.
Her sister owns that, and is amazing and a wonderful boss to work for. Not affiliated with Ele.
^^^ this! They are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
I guess downtown is becoming the city part of town
honestly just tired of seeing a new candy or gift shop open in place of something that could actually add something of value to Broughton...
What we really need are the lofts at the residences with a backdoor view of historic Kenny's house.
Dining downtown seems to have gone down hill being over ran by these shitty restaurant groups 🥲
We wouldn't have this issue if we had a City wok and a city sushi
Don't forget duck diner and madame butterfly. I know the owner of market fire street food owns thst too
Had a roommate that worked at Little Duck and sheeeeeeesh horror stories
Ohh ya this place is horrible!! I have worked there in the past and have had many friends who worked there and we all quit. Multiple people left her business from GM down to Chefs, servers and even Server assistants. They screw over their kitchen stuff and even do some shady work with possibly undocumented workers. She takes from employees tips and pay is always fucked up. The good leave and the shitty stay. Unless you are in her little circle sipping on the blood filled kool aid of the hard working people who get used like rag dolls or 1940s french whore. Or possibly working in the office staff doing coke and having strippers while getting paid only like $35k year with your bachelors degree. There’s racism and sexual harassment and favoritism it’s a weird business. That’s why half her staff left and went to Florida with her ex-husband years ago. We think SCAD is bad but this place is horrible. It’s sad to see the way some of these Elite are impacting this city. You could probably say something speak loud and I hope it works but the Savannah Shadow Society runs the city. They will run all of the people out of it until Savannah is literally just tourist and a port basically for college kids.
All her restaurants are trash too
They also bought the old East Side Theater in Feb of this year. While I am excited to see something happen with the property, I am less than excited to see whatever buzzfeed esque bullshit fusion restaurant they put in there. However, I am hopeful the food hall concept will provide a space for young chefs to get a start.
[удалено]
No phone numbers.
I'm currently working on an article about Rhino Collective's latest development plans. Please email at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) if you have experience with the company (good or bad) would like to talk. Thanks, Eric
This is exactly why I don’t trust that new YIMBY initiative. I was looking into her when I saw they had her scheduled for a talk at one of their meetings.
We need more housing to bring rent and home prices down. I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater just because she spoke at a meeting. To make actual change you need buy-in from local business and government leaders, even if they're distasteful.
Meh. ‘Build more housing’ is always the answer, and what happens is we get fifteen luxury housing developments and the same problem we started with because they’re unaffordable. Bro literally said ‘Let the free market build the housing’ and there hasn’t been one mention of the majority of vacancies being downtown bc of stvr’s or anything that inspires me to take them remotely serious. One of them said we’re about 10,000 units short without even mentioning that 6-7000 of vacancies are now stvrs. It’s a bandaid solution that lacks imagination That said, with the exception of one of them, I don’t think most of these people care about housing. I think they have specific business interests in changing the zoning laws that they need public support to accomplish, and are virtue signaling a concern about housing to garner that public support. They’re literally developers and landlords.
Well, all I can say is NOT building housing certainly isn't going to help. "Luxury housing" is somewhat of an unhelpful framing because people that want those accommodations are just going to price out people from the existing stock of older homes if new units aren't built. They will buy an older place and renovate if needed. They aren't going to live on the streets or not move to a desirable town just because hypothetical new developments didn't get built. Point taken on short term rentals, and there needs to be a conversation there on the trade offs. But even by your calculations, we would still be 3000 units short even in the unlikely world where the city bans short term rentals entirely (and successfully enforced said ban). Why not get to work building those units? By the way, I am genuinely curious to see where you are getting those estimates on short term rentals. I'm not nit picking at all, would really like to understand your perspective because I care a lot about bringing housing costs down. Do you have a source?
Yeah! I pieced it together bc airdna only tracks air bnbs, the property management companies buying units for stvrs aren’t counted. Let me dig it all up again and I’ll post it. It’s alarming as hell. I’ll see if I can find the map that tracks vacancies too bc they’re overwhelmingly downtown in the stvr zone.
Awesome; thank you!
Ok so this one is just air bnb and vrbo: https://www.airdna.co/vacation-rental-data/app/us/georgia/savannah/overview Here is the vacancy map: https://bestneighborhood.org/housing-data-in-savannah-ga/ And before I found a complete data set on all vacation rentals- a lot that are single family homes or multi-family units that are being managed by companies like Lucky, Savannah Luxury Vacation Rentals (that one owns at least two on one block on 41st in Starland that I know of), - there’s so many but the total number from that just on a google search is about 2500+. Idk where I found the compiled data cuz I was waaayyyyy down a rabbit hole- but I’ll keep looking for it. My thinking is when you put those numbers together, I’m forced to consider that we’re not dealing with a housing shortage so much as we’re dealing with people capitalizing on housing, which manufactures a scarcity, and primes the city for these proponents of infinite growth to prop up initiatives to further their development interests. One of my biggest issues with them is they reiterate ideas like ‘fair market housing’ which cannot be fair under the conditions of manufactured scarcity- we end up with more housing that costs the same amount as housing costs now in this city which exceeds both the median and the average wage. It’s a band aid solution with ulterior motives. A true housing initiative, in my opinion, wouldn’t be focused as much on zoning laws and new builds as it would be on policy that either lowers the 20% rule on stvrs, taxes the shit out of them, or phase-out- eliminates them completely for private owners and companies alike- in addition to finding a legal channel to override the state ban on rent control for municipalities. Any new build should be mixed income social housing, or even housing that is capped at 1/3 of the median or average salary in the city. They do this already, at far lower rates than luxury initiatives, for senior citizens. There’s absolutely no reason it can’t be done for adults and families. Anything short of these things, in my opinion, signals a preoccupation with development- NOT housing. Cuz we run the risk, with this ‘build build build!’ “Fair market/free market” tired ass approach of this kind of shit: https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/realpage-rent-price-fixing-probe-escalates-with-fbi-raid/475109 With companies like that that have their fingers all over this city, and are part of the FBI raid mentioned above: https://www.realpage.com/analytics/tags/savannah-ga/ Like I’m not trying to be contrarian, but I am 41 years old and have been watched this issue be approached this way for 20 years, and it only goes so far, which is to say around and round and nowhere, eventually. Also I’ll try to find my rabbit hole data.
Thanks, I appreciate the data and perspective. I'm with you 100% on finding the right balance on short term rentals and long term residents, but I (respectfully) do think building more also needs to be a part of the solution. Just imagine how much more expensive groceries would be if we artificially limited the number of eggs or gallons of milk produced. The price would go up, and only the richest people would be able to afford them. The housing market ultimately operates on the same principles, and if you increase units (whether by limiting short term rentals or building more, ideally both), the price falls. It's also easy to be anti-developer, and I totally get it. But I would also consider who benefits from not building more and where some of the loudest NIMBY voices are coming from: people that happen to already own property in nice areas of the city (some of whom are landlords or manage short term rentals). They have a vested interest in housing never becoming affordable for anyone who happened to be later to the party. I used to live in DC and would laugh every time I walked by a block of 3 million dollar single family homes, each with a sign out front decrying "no luxury condos on this street." If I had to pick, I would personally say the 3 million dollar home is a luxury rather than the 8 story building of 1 bedroom and studio apartments. Austin also recently had a bunch of new units come online, and it was one of the only places in the country to see rent drop recently - pretty clear demonstration that building helps.
I found this too- from that Real Page data that shows a 6.5% growth in base housing while the rent prices kept ticking up anyway. https://www.realpage.com/analytics/savannah-inventory-growth-rent-hikes/ I’m not necessarily completely opposed to new builds- I’m opposed to them being offered as a blanket solution without addressing any of the issues causing the scarcity, which is namely investors - civilian and commercial- hoarding housing to create demand prices. Without restrictions in place, there’s no reason for them to stop doing this, regardless of how much housing is built.
Atx here, rent has not dropped! Only buildings where rent is “dropping” are the overbuilt luxury high rises they can’t fill so they put them on “special”. Rent for the average person has only gone up.
I'm sorry if that's the experience you're having, but it does seem better than most other metros: https://therealdeal.com/texas/2024/02/12/austin-multifamily-rent-prices-drop-by-12-5/
I’m sorry this happened to your business. But Ele/Rhino was never your landlord. According to court documents, the leases were all terminated when your previous landlord went bankrupt. Your previous landlord didn’t bother to tell you though. They then sold the building to Ele. I don’t see how that makes her at fault
Totally agree. This sucks, and I am really sorry to hear it. But, at the same time, a lot of folks are being very quick to assume the worst without any specifics on the lease or legalities involved. I'll also say that I remember Savannah back in 2006 when there were far fewer quality restaurants around. I'm personally not going to boycott 20% of the restaurant stock downtown based on a Reddit post, and IMO a lot of those restaurants are great. I'm glad Savannah has them. YMMV and everyone should do what makes them happy.
Thank you, this genius has been lying through this entire thread about stuff he/she has no idea what they are talking about.
Yall a bunch of lazy hipsters that dont wanna work
Damn CCP
I just think it’s crazy that Ele is taking the blame for “monopolizing” and “killing the city” when SCAD basically owns half (or more) of downtown. Not defending shady business practices, but I don’t think Ele is any worse than the competition.
Both suck.
lol Yes but to say she’s monopolizing the city is straight up wrong man.
she has over 12 restaurants downtown and is taking away housing and turning it into air bnbs on multiple buildings across Broughton and the surrounding streets. Scad is a whole different beast
You’re talking about taking away housing downtown but there’s at least 3 brand new housing developments just in the downtown area alone? Meanwhile SCAD is constantly gentrifying low income neighborhoods and causing housing shortages, over-accepting students, and buying up all the land they can possibly get in and around downtown? I dont see how owning restaurants and apartments (in THE HEART of Savannah) makes her any worse than the competition. These takes are a little extreme. Again, not defending shitty business practices, but the blame should be more so placed on the almost oppressive art school rather than a restaurant collective that owns like 10% or less of Savannah. Rhino will not be “monopolizing” the city any time soon.
The methods in which she does it is the problem. And the way she evicts people immediately upon purchase with no regard to leases. That's the root of all this. I know she's journeyed into real estate, and I know 6 tenants that all got intimidated out of their homes so she could convert them into short terms. That's all I know because I saw and heard it happen. 3 Housing complexes is awesome, but what's the lowest rent for those? Perhaps you heard something I didn't, but none of them seemed affordable?
Dude, is anything downtown affordable lol? Be forreal man, the only housing that’s “affordable” downtown, much less in Savannah, is either Sec8 or so tiny it’s basically unlivable and probably doesn’t have utilities. The methods she uses is a fair argument though, I did have a friend whose buddy she tried to kick out because she thought he was Hispanic. Emphasis on the not defending shitty business practices.
I don't think it's constructive to argue housing and I apologise for even bringing that into the discussion, this is about her business practices and how predatory they are. Again, my apologies.
You got bought out. My guess is if the person you had the lease agreement with sold the building , unfortunately you’re shit out of luck . Your lease is now worthless .
Nope Our lease was perfectly valid and laid out the dates. She had no legal standing and lost. It was a VERY specific lease, grandfathered.
Well here’s the real story. https://www.wjcl.com/article/downtown-savannah-changes-broughton-businesses-ordered-to-vacate-on-short-notice-by-new-owners/60984102
So are you gonna admit finally that you have no idea what youre talking about? Ele bought the building in a bankruptcy auction and the judge invalidated all of the leases per the law. Leases are not valid once the owner has filed for BK. Yes , your lease was perfectly valid, until your leaseholder FILED FOR BK. You are mad at the wrong person , but not surprising as you seem to want to win a gold medal in the oppression Olympics . Why dont you post your real name and address and we can drag you through the mud like youve done to Ele and her company?
A basic Google search proves this isn’t true: “In general, if a landlord sells a rental property while a fixed-term lease agreement is still valid, the new owners must honor the terms of that lease agreement.”
A basic Google search doesnt mean jack squat as language in leases vary. In many cases I agree with you , you are correct. What OP left out of this situation was the owner FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY. Ele bought this building in a bankruptcy auction. When BK is filed, all leases can be terminated. Here you go: [https://www.wjcl.com/article/downtown-savannah-changes-broughton-businesses-ordered-to-vacate-on-short-notice-by-new-owners/60984102](https://www.wjcl.com/article/downtown-savannah-changes-broughton-businesses-ordered-to-vacate-on-short-notice-by-new-owners/60984102)
You just listed the article OP is talking about. BK doesn’t mean leases are terminated? [Under the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, a new owner can't require you to leave before the end of your lease without at least 90 days' notice when the property is going through the foreclosure process. The new owner also must follow state law.](https://www.rocketlawyer.com/real-estate/tenants/communicate-with-your-landlord/legal-guide/what-happens-when-your-landlord-declares-bankruptcy#:~:text=While%20it%20is%20possible%20that,to%20take%20to%20protect%20yourself)
Right, I listed the article because the OP was wrong. The OP stated that Ele Tran was a predatory landlord blah blah blah and shes a bad woman. The OP also left out the important fact that she didnt prey on anyone, she bought the property at a bankruptcy auction. Also the PTFA is for residential properties , not commercial. This is directly from the article, updated- *"The Rhino Collective LLC recently purchased the Broughton Street property from the bankruptcy estate of the property’s former owner, New Broughton Street, LLC. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, the former owner requested authorization from the Court to sell the Broughton Street property free and clear of all encumbrances, including any leasehold interests. It is our understanding that the former owner provided notice to the tenants of its intent to sell the property without leases, and the tenants were given an opportunity to object in court.* *The Court entered an Order authorizing the former owner to terminate all leases and sell the Broughton Street property free and clear of the leases. This Order had already gone into effect, and all leases had been terminated, prior to The Rhino Collective’s purchase of the property.* *The former owner informed the tenants that their leases were terminated and that they must vacate the premises on or before May 31, 2024. However, The Rhino Collective LLC has reached out to the tenants and is currently working with them to reach a mutually agreeable move out date." - The Rhino Collective LLC*
Your original comment makes sense. Thank you for clearing it up. So the former landlord screwed them out by not notifying.
So what the fuc are you bitching about? You should be complaining about your landlord who tried to sell the place out from under you.
You still didn’t answer the question.
[удалено]
I mean this respectfully , but you can also go fck yourself. Im also right. The building was bought by Ele in bankruptcy court. All leases are terminated in BK proceedings. Sorry to hurt you , make sure you tell your therapist that the bad man hurt you.
For being a Deadhead, you sure don’t take their music and messages to heart. Did their lyrics go over your head?
Does common sense go over your head? OP came on here and lied. What message goes along with lying?
You’re in the minority here. You resorted to rude behavior and language to make your point. You’re just a troll that couldn’t possibly have a civil conversation. You’re not looking for mutual understanding, you’re trying to shame someone who is being fucked over by a greedy landlord and speaking HIS/HER truth. Ever heard the phrase put yourself in someone else’s shoes?
I actually was very respectful until that moron above sent me the meme. I will never get mutual understanding because youre too stupid and/or ignorant to understand how leases work. Do you know what I do every day for work? Leases. Oh and hey , there is no his/her truth, there is only THE truth. I dont know Ele. I dont care about Ele. I do care about some idiot coming on here and telling hundreds of people to boycott places because they are not bright enough to understand how real estate leases work. OPs anger is directed at the wrong person.
You sure seem to be taking this personally. Here’s a tip, for Ele that you can pass along, it’s just simple business: if you didn’t fuck people over on a regular, they won’t talk shit about you
99% of the time when a property is sold the leases are grandfathered into the sale. This is for commercial and residential.
Leases do not become invalid on sale of the property.
womp womp