WICHITA — There’s a judgment in Sedgwick County District Court against Real Development Corp. for more than $28,000 the company owes Tax Adjustment Specialists.
As Have You Heard? reported earlier this year, Tax Adjustment Specialists helped Real Development save about $61,000 by appealing to the county to lower appraisals on a few of its downtown buildings.
“I have spoken to them, and we have a payment plan,” says Real Development’s Michael Elzufon.
“I wish to God that were true,” says Jim McIntyre, the lawyer for Tax Adjustment Specialists.
“We had a deal,” McIntyre says. “They didn’t keep their word — again.”
In the process of preparing the lawsuit, McIntyre discovered Elzufon and partner Dave Lundberg let their corporate charters for several entities — including Real Development — expire.
The Real Development charter in Minnesota, where Elzufon and Lundberg are based, has not lapsed.
McIntyre says Kansas charters cost between $25 and $2,000 to maintain depending on the amount of real estate someone has.
Elzufon says the filing lapses are news to him.
“Literally, and unfortunately, this is probably a whopping five minutes per entity that it takes to go online,” he says. “But it is something that does have to be done at least once a year, and I didn’t realize that that had not been done. There will be an e-mail going out as soon as we hang up.”
In addition to intending to restore the charters, Elzufon says — in response to a question — he’s not trying to shift money from one corporate entity to another.
“It means none of that.”
Elzufon says along with a learning experience, the last three years have been a “gut wrench.”
“Really, all I want to do . . . is deliver a world-class experience,” he says of his properties.
Instead, he says he feels like he’s taking a beating.
“I’m in here dealing with some catastrophic issues that I care greatly about fixing,” he says of maintenance issues at some of his properties.
“I can tell you I’m breathing, I’m going to continue to breathe, and when I come out, I’m going to come out swinging.”