McElroy’s wanted to pay less rent to the city of Biloxi. A judge ruled on the lawsuit

A court case disputing the amount of rent McElroy’s Harbor House Seafood Restaurant owes the city of Biloxi has been dismissed.

Harrison County Circuit Court Judge Christopher Schmidt entered the dismissal Sept. 21 on the case filed by James McElroy Inc. against Biloxi.

The Sun Herald reported in January that Wayne Hengen, attorney for owner Mickey McElroy, argued his client essentially is double-paying and asked that monthly lease payments be lowered from about $6,000 a month back to about $2,600.

Judge Schmidt said in his ruling that McElroy and the city negotiated for and agreed to the rent under an amended 2010 lease for the restaurant that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

A three-year statue of limitations to void the contract expired before McElroy contested the lease, the ruling said. Even if the statue of limitations did not apply, the ruling said McElroy failed to assert claims before the city spent substantial amounts of money on McElroy’s behalf.

This story was originally published September 27, 2018 at 5:00 AM.