Sorry about the title. I did edit it for content, as I’m apparently slightly more mature than I was a few years ago, but I’m really feeling strongly about this:
So over new years, my circus performed in Virginia Beach. The show went awesome, and was really great for everyone involved. We got paid some in advance, and the rest on January 1st, after the gig. The guy putting on the party cut us a $1500.00 check from the “Atlantis Group.” I deposited it into my bank account somewhere around Jan 4th or 5th.
Yesterday it got returned to me. There is no “bank of Atlantic Orlando” and there is no “Atlantis Group.” I made some calls, and everyone else who got checks got screwed over as well.
Now I have a large negative number where my checking and savings accounts used to be.
Anyone know what I can do, if anything about this? I’m calling my bank today, and wondering why it took so long to inform me about this. How do I start legal action (I live in CT, the party was in VA, and the guy who wrote the “check” has fled to FL)?
Duuuuude, that’s horrible!! I just shot an email off to a friend of mine who’s a laywer (a cool one). I’ll let you know what she says as soon as writes back!
Sorry to be preachy, but let this be a lesson. For future payments, insist on cash, cashier’s checks or money orders in the future. If a check is a must-have, insist on a letter of guarantee from the bank, then call that bank to make sure they’re legit! You might even have your bank call that bank for you…
Preface: IANAL, but I’ve a parent in law and have had some dealings with small-claims court. Take my advice with two Alka-Seltzer.
Step one is to call the police. They should be able to tell you which state the crime took place in… I’m a bit unclear on that concept. This is a criminal case and they need to be informed. Also, a police report will give you a strong case against the fraudulent party.
Step two is to write a letter to the fraudulent party, stating the situation as you see it and how you think it should be resolved. Be fair and ask once more for your money. In the case that there was no written contract between your troupe and the show’s producer(s), you’ll need to make some sort of paper trail to prove your case in court. Also, writing a letter shows a “good faith” effort on your behalf to resolve the incident. This will help your court case (as long as the letter isn’t threatening or nasty).
Step three is to file a small claims suit against the fraudulent party, most likely in the state where the fraud was determined to take place. Most parties don’t retain a lawyer for small claims suits, although you might want to consult one if no contract exists… keep in mind, though, for such a small sum of money, hiring a lawyer might not make fiscal sense.
To file a suit you’ll need to contact the clerk’s office in the civil court of the county where you’ll be filing. The clerk can deliver you the paperwork you’ll need to file the suit, and might also be able to instruct you on how to serve that paperwork to the defendant (usu. registered mail is sufficient).
This will be the basis of your case, as I see it… You first need to prove that your troupe performed the show (got pictures?), then you’ll need to prove that you performed the show with the understanding that you’d be compensated.
Gather up all the paperwork you can find, print out any email dialogs you may have had regarding the show, collect receipts of expenses incurred in performing the show, etc. If you had any verbal conversations, log those to the best of your memory (i.e. “I was called on this date, at this time, by this person, and he/she told me this…”). The better the “paper trail”, the stronger your case will be.
When your court date comes, present your case to the judge: tell your story, display your evidence, etc. The defendant(s) have a chance to make their say, then the judge will make his decision. To me this seems like an open-and-shut case.
The biggest difficulty comes in collecting your settlement. If the defendant(s) don’t want to pay the settlement, you may have to file more orders, such as wage garnishments, or property liens. This can lead to months and/or years of headache, but if the money is important to you, this is the path you must take.
Atlantis Group? Atlantis as in almost certainly mythical, sank without trace, only believed in by the slightly crazy? Bit of a clue there, I’m afraid.
Under English law, there would be a clear case of fraud, but little prospect of a successful prosecution unless a lot of people lost a lot of money (or a few people in a marginal constituency).
As for civil redress, under English law, you’d have a fair chance of getting a judgement, but almost no chance of enforcing it. The costs would outweigh the benefits, making it very much a Pyrrhic victory.
I would be surprised if US law were significantly better.
My 2 cents …send the letter registered mail or request a return receipt from the post office to prove the letter was delivered. Be sure you keep an exact copy of the letter that you send (for your records). If the letter comes back “undeliverable” be sure to keep the undelivered letter to show that you attempted to contact the other party.
This is impossible to do as a professional entertainer. You could try, but most clients are going to be real receptive to it. You could simply ask for a credit statement from the bigger companies/corporations, that will list their bank, references and creditors. then check the facts based on that.
Whether these people are ligit is hard to say. That site lists many officers and execs who seem like real people. Ther is phone numbers, addresses and email contacts on that site. Maybe you can recognize who hired you. Maybe someone just used their name in a scam.
As a retired entertainer I have only been stiffed twice in twenty years. It’s a drag when it happens. But now with the internet it is a lot easier to put pressure on folks to pay up.
I bet some good internet slueths here could come up with a lot of info on these people, and with the pressure applied from this group and others you could get your money back. I’ve seen it work, legally, on other message boards where people got ripped-off.
Just chalk it all up to experience. It’ll cost more to TRY to collect it. Be careful who you trust in the future, but once in a while this sh*t happens in show biz.
You may have a business mentoring service in your area that can give you advice or at least point you in a direction. Those types of services often have retired business people give advice to new businesses.
I don’t know of any specific organizations like that. Maybe contact your local Chamber of Commerce and see if they can point you to one. Even if they can’t help in this specific case they may be able to give you info on how to minimize the chance of getting stiffed like that again.
