Mysuperlongacct
Junior Member
I am located in North Carolina.
My wife and I commissioned a young, up-and-coming artist to create an original painting in the same style as one she had displayed (and sold) at an art show we attended. We paid her $1,100 up front to work on it, with $1,100 due on delivery.
When the work was delivered, it was of sub par quality but we paid her the $1,100 as expected. One day later, I asked her to continue working on the painting to bring it closer to the quality of the work that inspired it, and she agreed. I dropped it off at her studio, and that was the last I saw of it. No return date was agreed upon.
Emails were exchanged for several months, and then there was no communication. Because we are friends on Facebook, and generally move in the same social circles, I know she had a series of personal setbacks. It was because of this that we were accommodating to the long period of non-communication.
Two months ago, the artist announced on Facebook that she was relocating to her hometown in another state and would be leaving within a week. I attempted to reach out to her via all known channels (email, Facebook, telephone) with no response. Researching small claims court, I produced a demand letter and that got her attention. Via email we settled on a repayment plan that included four equal payments of $550 per month beginning in December 2016 and running through March 2017. An invoice for the first payment was sent to her on December 1.
As you can imagine, it is now January 1 and no payment has been made. When I was researching small claims court, I understood the challenge of her relocation. Is it true that I would have to file in her home state of Wisconsin (which is 1,000 miles away)? What other recourse could I pursue?
I have this all documented via electronic communication -- her willingness to work on the painting, her acknowledgment that she could not complete the project, and her suggestion of the repayment plan.
My wife and I commissioned a young, up-and-coming artist to create an original painting in the same style as one she had displayed (and sold) at an art show we attended. We paid her $1,100 up front to work on it, with $1,100 due on delivery.
When the work was delivered, it was of sub par quality but we paid her the $1,100 as expected. One day later, I asked her to continue working on the painting to bring it closer to the quality of the work that inspired it, and she agreed. I dropped it off at her studio, and that was the last I saw of it. No return date was agreed upon.
Emails were exchanged for several months, and then there was no communication. Because we are friends on Facebook, and generally move in the same social circles, I know she had a series of personal setbacks. It was because of this that we were accommodating to the long period of non-communication.
Two months ago, the artist announced on Facebook that she was relocating to her hometown in another state and would be leaving within a week. I attempted to reach out to her via all known channels (email, Facebook, telephone) with no response. Researching small claims court, I produced a demand letter and that got her attention. Via email we settled on a repayment plan that included four equal payments of $550 per month beginning in December 2016 and running through March 2017. An invoice for the first payment was sent to her on December 1.
As you can imagine, it is now January 1 and no payment has been made. When I was researching small claims court, I understood the challenge of her relocation. Is it true that I would have to file in her home state of Wisconsin (which is 1,000 miles away)? What other recourse could I pursue?
I have this all documented via electronic communication -- her willingness to work on the painting, her acknowledgment that she could not complete the project, and her suggestion of the repayment plan.
