It wasn’t technical difficulties that knocked local programming off The Horn FM over the weekend. Employees of Genuine Austin Radio were locked out of their building by the landlord, who claims the radio group is more than $345,000 behind on rent payments.
Jason Nassour, the managing partner of Genuine Austin Radio, told KVUE TV that there was an agreement in place with the building’s previous owner. Nassour says his company “was supposed to be given tens of thousands of dollars to fix the place up in April of 2020”.
“Frankly we were surprised,” Lise Hudson, Market Manager for Genuine Austin Radio, told Barrett Sports Media. “We thought things were moving in the right direction.”
The building was sold to OakPoint Real Estate during the Covid-19 pandemic. Nassour says the new owners were trying to collect what it claims are late payments owed by Genuine Austin Radio.
According to a memo obtained by Barrett Sports Media, OakPoint claims it has received no payments from the radio company since October of 2022. It also says that Genuine Austin Radio was served with notices of default in January and April. On Friday, OakPoint claimed it was owed $345,724.24.
“Although Landlord has patiently attempted to provide solutions and accommodate Genuine Austin Radio’s request to resolve the default, Genuine Austin Radio has repeatedly failed to uphold its commitments,” the memo reads. “Therefore, Landlord shall exercise its rights to pursue all remedies set forth in the Lease, including but not limited to, changing the locks of the Premises.”
Hudson described the event as “a perfect storm” of miscommunication with the two companies believing they were operating on different timelines.
The radio staff returned to the building on Tuesday and Hudson said that two sides are working on resolving the matter for good.
“They [OakPoint] have been lovely to deal with to be honest with you. We are back and we are working towards moving forward.”
