Las Vegas Monorail Co., a transit system financed with municipal debt that serves some of the city’s marquee hotels, filed for bankruptcy for the second time in just over a decade after the coronavirus pandemic shut down service. The nonprofit transit system is proposing a quick bankruptcy sale to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for about $24 million. The bulk of the purchase price is held entirely by municipal-bond investor Preston Hollow Capital LLC.
Contemplating bankruptcy? Contact our office at 816-524-4949 or you can visit our website at hoorfarlaw.com to schedule an appointment.
On remand, circuit judge need not make the same rulings as before remand. Plaintiff’s testimony, that plaintiff could not title her car because of defective title, did not constitute hearsay because it included only plaintiff’s first-hand experience and no out-of-court statement. Statutes provide that selling a motor vehicle without a valid title is fraud, so that conduct constitutes a violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, and supports plaintiff’s judgment. Actual damages included incidental damages, but loss of a business expectancy was beyond incidental damages. Statutes allow an award of punitive damages, which had support in evidence that motor vehicle dealer defendant sold plaintiff a motor vehicle with a manifestly defective title and, “when [plaintiff] attempted to work with the [defendant] to try to get a proper title and later attempted to rescind the purchase, the [defendant’s] employees laughed at her and taunted her to ‘take them to court.’” Statutes also allow an award of attorney fees, which Court of Appeals presumes is correct. Affirmed, with actual damage award reduced, and remanded again to determine the amount of attorney fees due on appeal.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a consent order against SMART Payment Plan, LLC, finding that the company’s disclosures of its loan payment program contained misleading statements in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010’s prohibition against deceptive acts or practices. SMART operates a loan payment program for auto loans called the SMART Plan that deducts payments from consumers’ bank accounts every two weeks and then forwards these payments every month to the consumers’ lenders. The consent order imposes a judgment against SMART requiring it to pay $7,500,000 in consumer redress and requirements to prevent future violations.
In a tight spot financially? Contact our office at 816-524-4949 or you can visit our website at hoorfarlaw.com
As a growing number of law firms look to contract with third-party vendors to outsource business operations, a $128 million lawsuit filed by LeClairRyan’s bankruptcy trustee against UnitedLex makes it clear that the risks to both sides can be high. LeClairRyan’s trustee alleged that the terms of the deal with UnitedLex, which resulted in the creation of a joint venture to handle support services, served only to push the cash-strapped firm “further into insolvency.” Now UnitedLex itself faces substantial liability for allegedly sucking money out of the firm, at the expense of LeClairRyan’s other creditors. In June 2018, the two entities unveiled the launch of ULX Partners LLC, a joint venture that was intended to allow LeClairRyan and other law firms to outsource back-office operations and receive equity stakes in the new company. “If we don’t reach 10,000 employees in the next five years, then I’m not doing something right,” UnitedLex founder Dan Reed told The American Lawyer at the time. “Some people would view that as heretical, but it’s not.” But little over a year later, in August 2019, LeClairRyan announced its dissolution, following months of partner defections that had begun before the UnitedLex deal. The firm filed for bankruptcy five weeks later. And as its fate became increasingly apparent over the course of that summer, UnitedLex had nothing to say about the status of ULX.
Struggling financially? Please contact our office at 816-524-4949 or you can visit our website at hoorfarlaw.com to schedule an appointment.
Friendly’s Restaurants LLC, an iconic chain on the East Coast of the U.S. known for its sundaes, became the latest dining institution to go bankrupt amid the pandemic. The company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware. It listed estimated liabilities of $50 million to $100 million, and estimated assets of $1 million to $10 million. FIC Restaurants Inc., which operates the Friendly’s brand, will sell almost all of its assets to Amici Partners Group. Nearly all of Friendly’s 130 corporate-owned and franchised restaurant locations are likely to remain open subject to pandemic limitations.
Contemplating bankruptcy? Contact our office at 816-524-4949 or you can visit our website at hoorfarlaw.com to schedule an appointment.
The CFPB issued a consent order against Low VA Rates LLC to address the Bureau’s finding that Low VA Rates sent consumers mailers for mortgage loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that contained false, misleading, and inaccurate statements. Low VA Rates’ conduct violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s prohibition against deceptive acts and practices, the Mortgage Acts and Practices – Advertising Rule, and Regulation Z. Low VA Rates, a Utah-based mortgage lender and broker incorporated in Colorado and licensed in 48 states and DC, advertised their loans through direct-mail primarily to U.S. military servicemembers and veterans. The consent order requires Low VA Rates to pay a penalty of $1,800,000 to the Bureau and imposes requirements to prevent future violations.
Are you a victim of a similar fraudulent matter? Contact our office at 816-524-4949, or you can visit our website at hoorfarlaw.com to see what our attorneys can assist you with.
The former musical director of “The Arsenio Hall Show” was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for embezzling nearly $1 million from a charity concert intended to raise money for children made homeless by wars. A restitution hearing in this case will be scheduled in the coming months. Di’Maggio helped raise funds for children who had lost their homes due to global conflicts. Based on his promises, the foundation’s financial sponsor sent nearly $1 million dollars to Di’Maggio who squandered the money on his personal assets and paying his personal debts.
Struggling financially? Please contact our office at 816-524-4949 or you can visit our website at hoorfarlaw.com to schedule an appointment.
Pizza Hut delivery drivers say that the bankrupt company’s largest franchisee shortchanged them on payments for using their own vehicles, adding to the list of cases from former employees. NPC International Inc. reimbursed the drivers for miles at such a low rate that they were allegedly underpaid by $4 to $12 per hour. With the claims totaling more than $4,000 each from 80,000 drivers, the total could exceed $320 million. A bankruptcy judge ruled yesterday that their claims must stay on hold for now while NPC’s reorganization proceeds. The dispute concerns the difference between the mileage reimbursement rate of 57.5 cents a mile set by the IRS and the 25 to 35 cents typically paid by NPC. Drivers typically worked 7 hour shifts bearing all the costs of operating their personal vehicles from gasoline to insurance. On top of that, the drivers said, the number of miles they drove was undercounted. They claim top executives were aware of the alleged short-changing and have sought in legal filings to hold them personally liable.
Struggling financially? Please contact our office at 816-524-4949 or you can visit our website at hoorfarlaw.com to schedule an appointment.
One of the IRS’s top priorities is protecting the privacy rights of America’s taxpayers. The agency takes this so seriously that the right to privacy is one of ten rights the Taxpayer bill of rights gives all taxpayers.
Taxpayers have the right to expect that any IRS inquiry, audit or enforcement action will comply with the law and be no more intrusive than necessary. Taxpayers can also expect that the IRS will respect all due process rights, including search and seizure protections and provide a collection due process hearing when appropriate.
Inquiring about taxes? Contact our office at 816-524-4949 or you can visit our website at hoorfarlaw.com to schedule an appointment.
The state of New Jersey sued Navient on Tuesday, alleging that the student loan servicing company forced borrowers to pay and owe more money than necessary through misleading and deceptive practices. In a lawsuit Navient is accused of steering borrowers into loan forbearance and away from income-driven repayment plans, which typically extend the term and reduce the monthly payment owed. New Jersey also says that Navient failed to inform borrowers about their requirement to recertify that they are eligible for an income-driven repayment plan and gave them inaccurate information about balances due and other information.
In a tight spot financially? Contact our office at 816-524-4949 or you can visit our website at hoorfarlaw.com
