meemeelovely
Junior Member
I live in Oregon but this took place in Washington.
My cousin and I planned a Weekend Women's retreat for the women in our extended family. We did not profit from the weekend. The total cost for the weekend was to be split among all of the attendees and each woman was responsible for preparing a meal for everyone to cover food. Once we booked the beach house we asked everyone to pay. This is how we worded the payment policy:
As we�ve stated in a previous email, we will need to pay a deposit in the amount of one night�s stay ($400.00) by Friday, June 27th. The balance is due at check in. Although the balance is due at check-in, the deposit becomes non-refundable at two-weeks prior to the stay which is August 8th. We are, therefore, requesting that the balance be paid by August 7th and I will hold the money until check-in. We are requesting that everyone guarantee their RSVP with a contribution to the deposit of $40.00 per person. This $40.00 is not refundable if you cancel or do not pay the balance by August 7th. If I don't receive your deposit we will assume that this plan doesn't work for you and move forward with that assumption. While the $40.00 deposit is not refundable it will be deducted from the total amount of your stay.
Again, the entire balance will be due by August 7th. For anyone and everyone who pays their deposit by June 27th and their balance by August 7th, you will be entitled to a full refund including your $40.00 deposit if for any reason other than your own opting out, the weekend is cancelled or the total cost per person goes above $186.00 per person. If less than 8 people have paid their balances by August 7th, the weekend will be cancelled and those who have paid, will be entitled to a full refund including the deposit. We will also update the Google document with the new dates and amount as well as who we have received deposits and balances from.
The money was to be deposited into my cousins bank account so she is who actually received the money. One of our aunts refused to sign up for a meal, because the meal she wanted was taken. After the emails got nasty we decided to dis-invite her and refund her money which we did immediately. Another Aunt (who I'll call Aunt2 and her daughter) decided that because she had been uninvited that they did not want to come but had already paid both the deposit and the balance. While we were trying to figure out how to proceed, Aunt2 sent an email threatening to file criminal charges. Her exact words were:
As I see it, you and your co-planner have three options: first, and this is the one I prefer, you both stand down and rescind your decision to "disinvite" your aunt; second, refund the money ****** paid for this event from which she is "disinvited;" or, third, face criminal allegations of fraud and/or theft.
She says "refund ******" Aunt1 deposited a check for payment for all 3 (she wrote all three names on the memo line). The amount we refunded was only for the Aunt that had been disinvited and because the other aunt and cousin were still welcome to come.
With her threat of criminal charges we agreed to refund the money (but did not say when or the amount). We did this only because she is a lawyer and was threatening that she had somehow been defrauded. Things have gotten uglier and uglier and no additional refund has been made. We are starting to think that we should let her file against us and let a judge decide. So here are my questions:
1. Will she be forced to file against both my cousin and me, because we are co-planners or just my cousin since she is who received the money?
2. Can we say we agreed to refund the money under duress and her threat of criminal charges.
3. In some emails Aunt2 says she gave the money to Aunt1 to deposit, in others she says that it was Aunt1 paid for them all. Aunt2 claims that she filed with district court but is holding back on service to see if this can resolved (we think she is lying...she is a lawyer and we checked with the court to see if anything was filed and they said no). In some emails Aunt2 says she gave the money to Aunt1 to deposit, in others she says that it was Aunt1 paid for them all. I think it is legal posturing to be able to say that if it was actually Aunt1's money so under our implied contract she is entitled to the refund for all three. Would she be? (Even though she wrote all 3 names on the memo line.) Who in fact is the plaintiff(s) - Aunt1 or Aunt(2) and cousin since Aunt1 has received a full refund already.
4. The weekend is over and so any refund will come out of our pocket, are we expected to take that loss?
I live in Oregon and we are trying to figure out what to do. We have already purchased a cashiers check in the amount that she is claiming is owed while we try to figure this out. Where I know that many might think we should just give them the money and be done with it, it has gotten extremely nasty and personal. I am just interested in the legal merits of the case. Simply refunding her is still on the table but they are refusing to provide clarification as to who the money is even owed to. If we decide to refund the money we don't want one to say it was hers or the other way around.
Thank you for taking time to read this and hopefully you can add some insight into how we should proceed.
My cousin and I planned a Weekend Women's retreat for the women in our extended family. We did not profit from the weekend. The total cost for the weekend was to be split among all of the attendees and each woman was responsible for preparing a meal for everyone to cover food. Once we booked the beach house we asked everyone to pay. This is how we worded the payment policy:
As we�ve stated in a previous email, we will need to pay a deposit in the amount of one night�s stay ($400.00) by Friday, June 27th. The balance is due at check in. Although the balance is due at check-in, the deposit becomes non-refundable at two-weeks prior to the stay which is August 8th. We are, therefore, requesting that the balance be paid by August 7th and I will hold the money until check-in. We are requesting that everyone guarantee their RSVP with a contribution to the deposit of $40.00 per person. This $40.00 is not refundable if you cancel or do not pay the balance by August 7th. If I don't receive your deposit we will assume that this plan doesn't work for you and move forward with that assumption. While the $40.00 deposit is not refundable it will be deducted from the total amount of your stay.
Again, the entire balance will be due by August 7th. For anyone and everyone who pays their deposit by June 27th and their balance by August 7th, you will be entitled to a full refund including your $40.00 deposit if for any reason other than your own opting out, the weekend is cancelled or the total cost per person goes above $186.00 per person. If less than 8 people have paid their balances by August 7th, the weekend will be cancelled and those who have paid, will be entitled to a full refund including the deposit. We will also update the Google document with the new dates and amount as well as who we have received deposits and balances from.
The money was to be deposited into my cousins bank account so she is who actually received the money. One of our aunts refused to sign up for a meal, because the meal she wanted was taken. After the emails got nasty we decided to dis-invite her and refund her money which we did immediately. Another Aunt (who I'll call Aunt2 and her daughter) decided that because she had been uninvited that they did not want to come but had already paid both the deposit and the balance. While we were trying to figure out how to proceed, Aunt2 sent an email threatening to file criminal charges. Her exact words were:
As I see it, you and your co-planner have three options: first, and this is the one I prefer, you both stand down and rescind your decision to "disinvite" your aunt; second, refund the money ****** paid for this event from which she is "disinvited;" or, third, face criminal allegations of fraud and/or theft.
She says "refund ******" Aunt1 deposited a check for payment for all 3 (she wrote all three names on the memo line). The amount we refunded was only for the Aunt that had been disinvited and because the other aunt and cousin were still welcome to come.
With her threat of criminal charges we agreed to refund the money (but did not say when or the amount). We did this only because she is a lawyer and was threatening that she had somehow been defrauded. Things have gotten uglier and uglier and no additional refund has been made. We are starting to think that we should let her file against us and let a judge decide. So here are my questions:
1. Will she be forced to file against both my cousin and me, because we are co-planners or just my cousin since she is who received the money?
2. Can we say we agreed to refund the money under duress and her threat of criminal charges.
3. In some emails Aunt2 says she gave the money to Aunt1 to deposit, in others she says that it was Aunt1 paid for them all. Aunt2 claims that she filed with district court but is holding back on service to see if this can resolved (we think she is lying...she is a lawyer and we checked with the court to see if anything was filed and they said no). In some emails Aunt2 says she gave the money to Aunt1 to deposit, in others she says that it was Aunt1 paid for them all. I think it is legal posturing to be able to say that if it was actually Aunt1's money so under our implied contract she is entitled to the refund for all three. Would she be? (Even though she wrote all 3 names on the memo line.) Who in fact is the plaintiff(s) - Aunt1 or Aunt(2) and cousin since Aunt1 has received a full refund already.
4. The weekend is over and so any refund will come out of our pocket, are we expected to take that loss?
I live in Oregon and we are trying to figure out what to do. We have already purchased a cashiers check in the amount that she is claiming is owed while we try to figure this out. Where I know that many might think we should just give them the money and be done with it, it has gotten extremely nasty and personal. I am just interested in the legal merits of the case. Simply refunding her is still on the table but they are refusing to provide clarification as to who the money is even owed to. If we decide to refund the money we don't want one to say it was hers or the other way around.
Thank you for taking time to read this and hopefully you can add some insight into how we should proceed.
