WATERBURY, Vt. (WCAX) – A landlord-tenant dispute in Waterbury is headed to court in a dispute over rent payments.
Nine businesses are facing eviction after their building’s new owner said he stopped receiving rent payments, but the business owners claim they have been making them.
Joseph Pensak and his wife, Anna Black, own the Phoenix Gallery and Music Hall and Waterbury Studios under their business called AMPS LLC. They have been in the building in downtown Waterbury since 2022 and opened the Phoenix space in 2023. They also sublet space to seven other tenants.
“From the beginning, we started this space to be a central gathering place for the village,” Pensak said.
Their new landlord is Radio Vermont owner Myers Mermel, who bought the building in September 2025.
Right before Christmas, Pensak received an eviction notice despite their leases being active until 2027 and 2028.
“We had no idea it was coming. We’ve been paying rent on time,” Pensak said.
Pensak said they drop off checks in person monthly, but they have seen that they haven’t been deposited since October.
Mermel said in a statement to WCAX News that he’s received no such payments. “Since that time, nearly 90 days ago, we communicated in writing a number of times with AMPS LLC and Joseph Pensak that its two leases had significant monetary and nonmonetary defaults. Currently, past due rent and additional rent amounts exceed $120,000,” Mermel said.
Mermel also said in the statement that he is not evicting his tenants, contrary to the eviction notice sent to Pensak.
“That’s news to me,” Pensak said. “I’m very curious as to why we would take our entire holiday and work 11-hour days to respond to this if there’s no eviction notice.”
Pensak said he is suing Mermel to prevent the eviction, and he was granted a restraining order against Mermel until Jan. 12.
Both parties said they will let the documents speak for themselves in court on Jan. 15.
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