iHop Moldycakes

iHop International House of MoldyCakes

Holy MoldyCakes: iHop ruined the building!

Is International House of Pancakes ruining you diet?  Read this!

Sunshine Restaurant Partners, LLC, better known as iHop, rented a building to operate a pancake restaurant in South Pasadena, Florida.  At the end of its 35-year commercial lease, iHop surrendered the building to the owners.  A professional inspector was hired to perform the move-out inspection.  The inspector’s report revealed several areas of concern, and he recommended additional inspections by specialists.  Specialists were hired and they conducted more inspections.  The results were not good.  They found evidence of MoldyCakes!

A shocking discovery at the International House of Pancakes!

Copper Bar in Fuse Box

The building was so badly contaminated with mold and was in such a state of disrepair that it could not be safely used as a restaurant.  For starters, iHop was having problems with the mechanical equipment blowing fuses.  iHop was too cheap to fix or replace the mechanical units.  So, to stop the fuses from blowing, iHop replaced a fuse for the largest mechanical unit with a copper bar.  This was not the only change that iHop did to the electrical system.  iHop ruined the entire electrical system when it rewired the building.  The way the work was performed and the types of mistakes in the electrical system, showed that iHop had used unlicensed contractors.

All-U-Can-Eat MoldyCakes!

ihop-moldycakes-microbial-report-rat-trap

The most disgusting part of the inspections was the result of the environmental report.  The entire building was contaminated with mold.  I could not pronounce most of the names of the mold, such as Stachybotrys and Chaetomium. However there is a bright side, the one type of mold that I could pronounce may help to treat sinus infections.  To add a few sprinkles to your mold covered pancakes, iHop placed a rat trap right in the middle of a field of mold.  That’s right!  Let those cute little furry guys track yummy mold throughout the entire building.  And this is why iHop is now dubbed “The International House of MoldyCakes.”  If I put a “hashtag” on #MoldyCakes do you think it would catch on?

The punch line to go with your #MoldyCakes.

We sent the reports to iHop, along with estimates for repairs.  iHop responded by saying that it was extremely aggressive to ask iHop to repair the damages and that the best thing to do was to tear down the building.  Can you guess what happened next?  Of course you can, Litigation!

A call for all hands onboard!

In an effort to gather evidence, I am asking for information about similar conduct by Sunshine Restaurant Partners, LLC, or its predecessor, FMS Management Systems, Inc.  I suspect that there are other Landlords, Franchise Owners and former Franchise Owners who have had problems with iHop regarding building maintenance issues.  If you, or anyone you know, has information about any instances of:

  • iHop failing to maintain a building;
  • iHop refusing to repair a building;
  • iHop using unlicensed contractors;
  • Toxic Mold contamination in an iHop; or
  • Rodent infestations in an iHop.

involving Sunshine Restaurant Partners, LLC,  FMS Management Systems, Inc.iHop, or an iHop Franchise then please help me by sending information about the situation using the Request Consultation form on the right side of this page.