One of the last tenants involved in a rent dispute with the owner of the Toastmaster Building in Algonquin agreed Tuesday to pay $3,050 to the owner and vacate premises within 45 days.
Chicago Golf Ball Manufacturing owner Joe Hutton entered into the agreement before Judge Haskell Pitluck in McHenry County Circuit Court. The settlement with Hutton leaves only the Woodcraft Custom Cabinets case in court.
The other six tenants in the dispute have paid overdue rent and vacated the premises or have paid in full and are remaining in the building, said William Lensch, president of Blue Sky Investment Co., a trust that owns the building.
Michael Poper, attorney for Blue Sky, said the firm was owed more than $50,000 in rent before the litigation started two months ago. Poper said the withholding of rent was one thing that forced Blue Sky to file for reorganization under federal bankruptcy laws.
Judge Richard DeGunther of the bankruptcy court in Rockford has given owners of the 92-year-old building at 401 W. Washington St. four months to repair code violations or face closure of the building.