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Lawyer advice

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BuckeyeNation27

BuckeyeNation27

Goal Goal USA!
Staff member
Former FF The Deuce Champ
I'm not sure how many of our resident lawyers deal with bankruptcy and chapter 11.....but if any of you are out there, I need some help.

Back in August of 2009 my wife and I booked a cruise through a horrible shitfuck of a travel agent for almost $2000. The cruise leaves on June 6th. We will not be on it.....along with the 36 other people who booked through this bitch. She never sent the money to the cruise line. The cruise line has no information on anybody who signed up for the cruise. 36 people are all out at least $1000 each. She will be filing for Chapter 11 tomorrow.

She apparently owns 3 businesses (same business, 3 different locations), and my father is of the opinion that they are set up so that she can file for bankruptcy through one and still keep the other two open.

Obviously my question is what can I do, if anything, to get my money back?
 
Good luck on that one. I'm not a lawyer and I haven't even stayed in a Holiday Inn Express lately; however, I did get some money back a few years ago due to a screw-up by the cruise line (i.e. Windjammer Barefoot Cruises) by disputing the matter through my credit card company. In addition to the lost cruise days I even got reimbursed for my extra out of pocket expenses. I did send in all the proof (i.e. receipts and other documentation) with my dispute. If you charged the cruise you might look into that.


Here is a good lawyer joke to help cheer you up:


An engineer dies and reports to the pearly gates. St. Peter checks his dossier and says, "Ah, you're an engineer -- you're in the wrong place." So the engineer reports to the gates of hell and is admitted. Pretty soon, the engineer gets dissatisfied with the level of comfort in hell, and, as is the wont for engineers, starts designing and building improvements. After a while, they've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and the engineer is a pretty popular guy. One day God calls Satan up on the telephone and asks, "So how's it going down there in hell?"

Satan replies, "Hey things are going great. We've got air conditioning, flushing toilets and working escalators, and there's no telling what an engineer is going to come up with next." God replies, "What You've got an engineer? That's a mistake -- he should never have gotten down there; send him up here." Satan says, "No way. I like having an engineer on the staff, and I'm keeping him." God says, "Send him back up here or I'll sue." Satan laughs uproariously and answers, "Yeah right. And just where are you going to get a lawyer?"


P.S. Care to share the name of the travel agency and owner? I want to make sure I never book with them.
 
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Not a lawyer, so I am talking out my ass here (as you can see from my avatar that is the norm for me)....

If she took your money in 2009 and never turned it in that is outright fraud by an individual. I don't know what that would have to do with bankruptcy of a business. I would think you could go after her assets on that basis and if she is solvent in any of her businesses get some satisfaction.
 
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I suspect the resident lawyers will be salivating over this case. Personally, I thank you for reminding me why I stopped using travel agents.

I hope you get proper redress, so you can book a better cruise on your own on the internet. Good luck.
 
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BuckeyeNation27;1707987; said:
I'm not sure how many of our resident lawyers deal with bankruptcy and chapter 11.....but if any of you are out there, I need some help.

Back in August of 2009 my wife and I booked a cruise through a horrible [censored][censored] of a travel agent for almost $2000. The cruise leaves on June 6th. We will not be on it.....along with the 36 other people who booked through this bitch. She never sent the money to the cruise line. The cruise line has no information on anybody who signed up for the cruise. 36 people are all out at least $1000 each. She will be filing for Chapter 11 tomorrow.

She apparently owns 3 businesses (same business, 3 different locations), and my father is of the opinion that they are set up so that she can file for bankruptcy through one and still keep the other two open.

Obviously my question is what can I do, if anything, to get my money back?
Click to expand...
You HAVE to get counsel to make a proof of claim in the bankrupcty and fight the discharge of the debt because of intentional fraud. She will say she just goofed up, but you have to get in and find out her $$$ status at the time, and follow the money to see if she used your $$ for her expenses (she did) and to get your claims non-dischargable.

Debts not discharged include debts for alimony and child support, certain taxes, debts for certain educational benefit overpayments or loans made or guaranteed by a governmental unit, debts for willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity or to the property of another entity, debts for death or personal injury caused by the debtor's operation of a motor vehicle while the debtor was intoxicated from alcohol or other substances, and debts for certain criminal restitution orders.11 U.S.C. ? 523(a). The debtor will continue to be liable for these types of debts to the extent that they are not paid in the chapter 11 case. Debts for money or property obtained by false pretenses, debts for fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity, and debts for willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity or to the property of another entity will be discharged unless a creditor timely files and prevails in an action to have such debts declared nondischargeable. 11 U.S.C. ? 523(c); Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4007(c).
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"

She may have had an insurance policy for E&O, and you need to hunt that down and try to get the stay lifted so you can pursue it, or deal with it in the 11 proceedings. I do not do 11s so that is just a gut reaction.

If she used the money and some of it went to her sweety or some other person or entity, you might be able to plead some conspiracy theory, and find some other pocket..
 
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36 people got screwed? Hell, that's more than enough to start up one of these:

angry-mob-simpsons.jpg


Good luck, man. :(
 
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My guess is that no lawyer will take the case "pro bono". Therefore you'll have more lawyer fees built up than any amount that you expect to get back. I guess that (maybe) you can sue yourself in small claims court. However, face it, even if you sue she probably won't show up in court, even if you get a judgement she won't pay; and I doubt she has any wages that you can garnish and/or property that you can put a lien on.

Here's an idea and maybe the only real chance you have at getting your money back. :slappy:

Call the bitch and try to get her to agree to go on Judge Judy with you. The show puts up a pot of money for each case. Judge Judy's winner gets paid off the amount that she decides upon (if any) and the 2 parties split whatever is left. The bitch could actually make some cash here.

Judge Judy - Submit Your Case

:biggrin:

Anyway, good luck with your efforts to recover your money.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another lawyer joke:

Lawyer's personal injury

A golfer hooked his tee shot over a hill and onto the next fairway. Walking toward his ball, he saw a man lying on the ground, groaning with pain.

"I'm an attorney," the wincing man said, "and this is going to cost you $5000."

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," the concerned golfer replied. "But I did yell 'fore'."

"I'll take it," the attorney said.
 
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ScriptOhio;1708231; said:
My guess is that no lawyer will take the case "pro bono". Therefore you'll have more lawyer fees built up than any amount that you expect to get back.
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This is the problem, but I would suggest you consider one of three things:

1. If there are 36 of you in a similar position, you could consider pooling your resources to go after her with one lawyer. That way, the attorney's fees and other costs will be spread out among you, and it may make financial sense to go after her in court.

2. If you want to go it alone, your attorney should consider your state's consumer protection laws. Often, if you can succede on a consumer protection claim, you'll get your attorney's fees, costs, and perhaps even double or treble damages.

3. Contact your state's office of the attorney general. They undoubtedly have a consumer protection division that might go after her on your behalf, especially if other individuals from your state were harmed by her scam business.
 
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ScriptOhio;1708231; said:
I guess that (maybe) you can sue yourself in small claims court. However, face it, even if you sue she probably won't show up in court, even if you get a judgement she won't pay; and I doubt she has any wages that you can garnish and/or property that you can put a lien on.
Click to expand...

Steal a scene from Liar Liar recently?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKKo_wns4G8
 
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