KFOR.com Oklahoma City

Attorney: Cowboy Ranch owner dies after bar closes for allegedly missing nearly two years of rent payments

Update 12/9: Elaine Dowling, attorney for Jeff Rogers tells KFOR Rogers has died. Dowling said he died of natural causes Friday morning, but nothing more is known at this time.

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – A very popular Bricktown bar closed its doors Thursday morning because the bar owner allegedly missed nearly two years of rent payments.

A lease agreement for Cowboy Ranch went into effect July 13, 2020 and was supposed to last until October 31, 2025 unless prior termination by the lease agreement or at law.

According to Oklahoma County court records, the bar’s owner, Jeff Rogers failed to provide reports for the months of January 2021 through August 2022.

Rogers was also reported to have failed to provide a required percentage rent payments for that same time frame.

Both failed terms were written in the lease agreement, according to court documents.

“On November 16, 2022, a letter was dispatched by the undersigned law office for a ten (10) day notice to quit,” a petition for forcible entry and detainer record states.

The notice was also allegedly sent to Rogers’s registered home address listed on the lease and was also posted to the front of Cowboy Ranch.

The 10 day notice to quit period expired on November 28.

Court records reveal neither the full and complete paperwork had been provided nor had a full and complete payment been made either.

At that point, the petition said the plaintiff, which is Rogers’s landlord and property owner, had a right to forcible entry and detainer.

“Landlord to work in good faith with tenant to allow removal of personal belongings to tenant. Tenant is to respect landlord’s premises and counsel will negotiate appropriate time frame for removal of property,” a court document reads.

In an order granting possession of premises to the plaintiff, the landlord agreed to Rogers having until December 8 at 11 a.m. to vacate the premises.

While those records don’t reveal how much money is owed on Cowboy Ranch, tax records show Rogers owes approximately $596,895.51 to the Internal Revenue Service and the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

$324,543.16 of that is from various dates this year.

Rogers appears to have owed tax liens since 2020.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma County Assessor records show Rogers is the owner of an up-and-coming Yo! Pablo in Mustang.

The City of Mustang has posted a ‘stop work order’ notice on the new business’s space, claiming work performed was without a permit.

The notice was effective as of August 25, but remained posted as of Thursday afternoon.

The inside is empty and construction looks to be in disarray.

Also empty is what used to be another Yo! Pablo on Covell. According to court records, that location was sent a notice to quit on November 17th.

The reason being Rogers allegedly missed about six months of rent. Pursuant to the Lease Agreement, a monthly base rent of $6,333.33 was promised.

Records show Rogers and two other individuals now owe $44,570.98 as of December 6.

In that total, base rent, maintenance, and interest are owed.

As each day passes, $13.49 accrues in interest.

Other businesses associated with Rogers that have recently closed are ‘The Pig & Butcher,’ ‘Steak The Experience,’ and the ‘XO Lounge.’

Each business associated with Rogers appears to have a different LLC attached.

News 4 reached out to Rogers via Facebook Messenger, phone call, and text.

The messages never went through and our calls went straight to voicemail.

We also reached out to his listed legal representation, Elaine Dowling.

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She said she didn’t have the “authority” to provide a statement when asked.

Minutes after her initial decline to comment, she sent another email saying, “I will warn you, however, that there are a number of things being stated as true that simply are not; and they are probably not.  I would caution you not to get focused on a deadline and accept something as true without verifying it.”

All information has been drawn from court records and tax documentation though.

Triad Bank, the bank financing Rogers has terminated their contract with him, according to records.

The landlord of where Yo! Pablo was on Covell has started looking for someone else to relet the space.

It’s unknown at this time what will happen with the space that once was Cowboy Ranch.