Legal Question in Consumer Law in Vermont

Wedding reception venue/caterer closed
The restaurant we booked as our wedding venue/caterer recently closed. Now we are being given the run-around on our deposit with excuse after excuse. It would appear the next step is to file a claim in small claims court, the deposit is a few thousand dollars, but the concern is that the LLC has nothing to go after as the restaurant has been closed and this all appears to stem from their financial problems.

My question is is there a way to file the claim against the owner individually? The restuarant is an LLC. The contract does not clearly state that the deposit must be held for our event or anything that clear, but is there a state/federal law that says a deposit shouldn't be spent on other things, making this some form of fraud? Do we have to prove that the owner never had the means to go through with our event? Is it enough that he has misled us about our deposit being ''in the mail''?. I have the feeling that if we can't get him on the hook personally we will never see a dime because the LLC has nothing and there are other creditors ahead of us.

We are thinking this is worth a consultation fee with a lawyer, but not sure. Certainly not worth hiring one outright.

Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Asked on 3/09/09, 9:02 pm

henry lebensbaum Law Offices of Henry Lebensbaum (978-749-3606)

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Re: Wedding reception venue/caterer closed

If you paid by credit card, you could get the money back; otherwise it is complex and the odds of success are limited to the funds in the LLC.

Answered on 3/09/09, 11:12 pm

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