Attorney General files lawsuit against venue operators who jilted customers

The Attorney General’s Office Consumer Protection Division has filed a lawsuit against the operators of a Seattle venue who knowingly booked events, including many weddings, they knew they could not actually hold at the venue.

February 15, 2015 1:43 am

In a complaint filed in King County Superior Court yesterday, Roland and Amanda Crane are accused of violating the Washington Consumer Protection Act.

Their business, EM Fine Art, hosted weddings and events at a South Lake Union location. In two mass emails in June 2014, the Cranes told their customers they would not provide use of the gallery for already scheduled events and would not be refunding down payments.

The first email falsely claimed the gallery had been destroyed by an electrical fire.

That was the last their customers heard from the Cranes. More than 80 consumers whose events were not accommodated have lost more than $50,000 in unrefunded deposits and other payments.

An Attorney General’s Office investigation revealed the Cranes knew their lease would be terminated but they continued to rent the space to unwitting consumers. The Cranes received multiple notices, starting in November 2013, from their landlord and from the Seattle Department of Planning and Development that they were violating local land use ordinances.

The Cranes knew by March 14, 2014, at the latest that they would be unable to host events in 2015, but kept scheduling events and accepting payments for 2015 anyway. Their landlord notified Roland Crane on April 18, 2014, that the gallery’s lease would be terminated May 21, 2014, yet the Cranes continued entering into contracts and soliciting payments in late April and May for events beyond the termination date.

The office alleges the Cranes engaged in unfair or deceptive acts and practices and should be held civilly liable for them.

The complaint asks the court to have the Cranes pay back their customers, impose civil penalties, prohibit the Cranes from engaging in these unfair or deceptive practices in the future and cover the Attorney General’s Office’s costs in bringing the case.