WARREN — Landlords representing the Cafaro Company have sued Regal Cinema for back rent that has not been paid at two Regal locations on Cafaro property, including the Boulevard Centre in Niles.

In lawsuits filed this week in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, Cafaro landlords Towne Management Co., representing property in Allen County, Ohio, near Lima, and Boulevard Centre LLC, representing the Niles location, have sued Regal Cinemas Inc. in separate actions, seeking more than $2.073 million.

The lawsuit over the Lima property, which seeks $865,327, has been assigned to Judge Andrew D. Logan; and the Boulevard Centre action, seeking $1.188 million, has been assigned to Judge Peter J. Kontos.

Both legal actions were filed Wednesday, and no response has come from Regal’s corporate headquarters in Knoxville, Tenn. Neither judge has set hearing dates in the cases.

According to information in the lawsuit provided by Cafaro attorney Leonard D. Hall, Regal has not paid the $50,870 monthly rent for the Niles facility since before March 2020. Regal has recently announced it is reopening some facilities after being closed for more than a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lawsuit over the Lima property notes that Regal at the American Mall Annex has not paid its $55,586 monthly rent since before Oct. 1, 2020.

Anthony Cafaro Jr., co-president of Cafaro Corp., noted Regal’s longtime relationship with his company and hopes the filing of the legal action “will lead to meaningful discussions to hopefully resolve our differences.”

“We have to pay our bills, too, and we know it has been difficult for all businesses since the onset of the pandemic,” Cafaro said, noting that Regal is scheduled to reopen its Boulevard Centre movieplex sometime in May.

Regal has been located at the Cafaro property since 1991.

Attempts to contact someone at the Regal corporate office have been unsuccessful.

Regal Entertainment Group is one of the largest movie theater chains in the U.S., but it’s now owned by the U.K.-based company Cineworld, which purchased Regal in 2017, and it is no longer a public company. This $2.5 billion market cap company owns 790 theatres across 11 countries. Regal also operates a Regal South movieplex on South Avenue in Boardman.

gvogrin@tribtoday.com