Complaint Review: Keith Nichols

Keith Nichols entered into an agreement to have a company manage a restaurant he owned in South Fork, Colorado. He paid the agreed upon management fees for three months. He appeared in the restaurant on the first day of off-season and indicated he wanted to convert the arrangement between him and the operators to a lease agreement. The operators were OK with that and proceeded to establish accounts for the restaurant with the understanding that everything done was on his behalf. Every subsequent attempt to engage Keith Nichols in a negotiation of the lease agreement proved futile. Despite repeated attempts, Nichols would not negotiate an agreement.

Keith Nichols would, from time to time, demand money from the operation which did not generate a profit, but he would not pay the management fees which would have only been terminated if he signed a lease agreement. The State of Colorado requires that all agreements pertaining to real estate be in writing. Management services agreements do not need to be in writing because it is not an agreement pertaining to real estate. Keith Nichils failure to provide Managers with a lease agreement presented many problems including but not limited to, establishing legal possession for the purposes of applying for a liquor license. Keith Nichols owes $96,000 in unpaid management fees.

Keith Nichols had not paid his sales taxes correctly. Before our involvement, the staff had been paying sales tax on about 50% of the sales, and this is reflected in the software backups we have as well as hard copy revenue reports. This guy is a rip-off to deal with.