The Bangor Mall owner is trying to evict a business after the store’s owner withheld rent for months because of what she claims has been a lack of heat, leaking ceiling and incorrect electricity bills.
Mall owner Namdar Realty Group wants to evict Angel Connection, a spiritual-based gift shop that offers psychic readings and spa services, and its owner, Melissa Gabriel, to pay more than $47,000 Namdar said it is owed in back rent and electricity.
Gabriel has admittedly not paid rent since May because she said Namdar has never fixed ongoing issues that she has asked it to address.
Angel Connection is one of the few stores left in the struggling mall, which has less than 50 percent of its storefronts occupied. Its potential eviction comes as Namdar faces two lawsuits from the city of Bangor over alleged code violations at the mall, including a leaking roof, a pothole-ridden parking lot and driveway, a broken sign and failing to fix a sinkhole that caused a sewage spill.
The city wants Namdar to pay more than $2 million for those code violations. The lawsuits are still pending.
Gabriel has a court hearing for the eviction Monday in Bangor District Court. Namdar did not respond to a request for comment.
Angel Connection opened in the mall on Sept. 1, 2022. By Sept. 21, Gabriel said she reached out to mall management because the heat was not working in the store. The heat has never been fixed, Gabriel said, with part of the store allegedly hitting a low of 44 degrees in January.
She asked Namdar at least four times about the leaking roof, which Gabriel claimed has caused water damage in the store, but nothing has been fixed.
A Bangor Daily News reporter observed water-damaged ceiling tiles in the store on Tuesday.
In December 2023, Gabriel said she received an electricity bill for all of 2022, despite only occupying the space for the last four months of that year. The bill was roughly $8,000 for the months she wasn’t in the mall, she said.
She said she told Namdar the bill was wrong and the company said it was looking into the issue. She never heard back and no load study was ever done to determine how much electricity her business used, despite her requests.
Gabriel said she explained the ongoing maintenance issues, with pictures, in an email to the company in July and never heard anything back.
“I haven’t been paying rent because of all the issues,” Gabriel said.
The eviction notice arrived Dec. 18, she said.
On Thursday, Gabriel listed her store for sale for $55,000 on Facebook Marketplace. Angel Connection has seven offices that can be rented out and the sale includes all inventory, displays, the cash register, a printer, security cameras and more.
If no one buys the store, it will close at the end of this month.
If the judge sides with Namdar and orders Gabriel to pay the $47,000, Gabriel said she will have to declare bankruptcy.
“I expected to be in this business until I retire here and they didn’t put any effort into the building at all,” Gabriel said. “Since I’ve moved in I’ve not seen any improvements.”