Are you kidding?!?!
A Gofundme page for that?!?
For CS, just get your client their money back!!!
If I were them, I would find a new trainer as well… I don’t think you are advising well at all…
OP, I’m glad you went forward with the go/fund. I don’t see it as a plea from an entitled kid, but as monetary help needed from honest people that got screwed by a crook.
Even if you can’t get the pony I hope you can teach that thief a lesson. Or better yet, put her out of business.
Also, for those who asked, this person/pony is in the Charleston, SC area.
Seller is counting on you to drop it. You need to know if pony is still there. Don’t we have sleuths on COTH in the area? The life lesson is that you are not powerless when people walk over you.
Maybe a COTH sleuth could call up the seller and offer more money than what the pony was purchased for and see what the seller says. Sleuth can say she saw the ad for pony on Internet or where ever it was posted at. Just an idea…
[QUOTE=alibi_18;8539041]
Are you kidding?!?!
A Gofundme page for that?!?
For CS, just get your client their money back!!!
If I were them, I would find a new trainer as well… I don’t think you are advising well at all…[/QUOTE]
Return of the money has strings attached as well. While the seller has withheld the pony, in the same breath they claimed “owed board”, feet done, etc., for the time it’s been there. Basically they’re running a tab while also refusing to let the pony go.
And in all honesty, the type of claim to get the pony is far less expensive than the cost of a full blown suit to have the money returned, damages, etc. No one is looking for anything undue. The only thing that was advised for the safety of the pony was that IF it were at all possible to come up with the amount needed to have the pony IMMEDIATELY recovered, it would be in the best interest of all to ensure the best possible outcome. Otherwise anything could happen between now and the Court’s decision. No matter what though, something has to be done, be it for the pony, or the money.
[QUOTE=Pocket Pony;8538117]
And then tell us who it is![/QUOTE]
YES!!!
[QUOTE=Altered39;8539065]
Return of the money has strings attached as well. While the seller has withheld the pony, in the same breath they claimed “owed board”, feet done, etc., for the time it’s been there. Basically they’re running a tab while also refusing to let the pony go.
And in all honesty, the type of claim to get the pony is far less expensive than the cost of a full blown suit to have the money returned, damages, etc. No one is looking for anything undue. The only thing that was advised for the safety of the pony was that IF it were at all possible to come up with the amount needed to have the pony IMMEDIATELY recovered, it would be in the best interest of all to ensure the best possible outcome. Otherwise anything could happen between now and the Court’s decision. No matter what though, something has to be done, be it for the pony, or the money.[/QUOTE]
FWIW - I think you’re doing the right thing. I will be donating to the gofundme account.
[QUOTE=IPEsq;8538755]
OP described the place as a farm owned by the family of the sellers. You can’t assume that you can go after the property and assets of family members. And so what if you file a lien on the farm and the horses? What does that get you in terms of money in your pocket? It gets you more headaches if you have to sell off those assets. What the lawyer gets is up to the fee arrangement they have with the clients.[/QUOTE]
Whether or not they are collected, liens and/or court judgments will affect the seller. Liens/court judgments can muck up their credit, especially if they want financing for higher-value things such as new fencing, vehicles, or original or refinance mortgage loans. They may not want that immediately, but they will in time. Liens / adverse judgments are part of higher-value credit evaluations and they don’t go away easily, even if paid.
https://www.creditkarma.com/article/civil-judgments-on-credit-report
Excerpt from url above:
In most cases, removing a civil judgment from your credit report is not a possibility. Most judgments will remain on your credit report for seven years from the filing date, and this timeframe will apply whether you pay off your damages or not. Paying off a civil judgment on time will likely still be beneficial to your credit health, though. If you do so, the status of the judgment on your credit report could be updated to reflect that it’s been satisfied. If you leave a judgment unpaid, though, it could potentially be refiled toward the end of the seven-year limit, renewing the negative mark for another seven years.
Actually, I wonder if the sellers would change their tune if they just read that paragraph … 
Just filing a lawsuit has the potential to have as much or more impact as having a judgment in place. Not knowing how much a judgment may be can be as alarming to a lender as having an known-amount unpaid judgment in place. The seller may be naive about this long-term impact.
Also, the seller is best advised to get an attorney of their own to help them through a suit and that costs money.
And, aside from the outcome of a lawsuit, a court judgment has the potential for serious and lasting reputation damage to the seller.
And, it’s inspiration to other buyers to also stand up for themselves. It is terrible to watch people in the horse world who are knowingly and deliberately taking advantage of others, because they figure (correctly) they will get away with it.
I think the sellers will find it would have been cheaper to make good on the deal than try to re-track the pony to a higher-value transaction.
Fingers crossed that however this turns out, the pony finds a good home. 
[QUOTE=Altered39;8539023]
Ugh, I just set up the page, but now you have me back on the fence. While I do agree with the analysis that many outside the horse world may come to, I also feel that this is not a situation where money is being asked to BUY some kid a horse as a luxury. This is a less fortunate child who wants a career, and a client who has put forth every effort and hard earned money to buy something. They have been wronged, stolen from, and it is going to pose a financial challenge to right it. We fully expected to go it alone, but I do think it would be an amazing thing for people to unite, whether merely in thoughts and jingles, or with any assistance one may wish to offer. We are grateful for either, but are not asking for anything.
[edit]
Thank you all for all of the support. I confirmed with the attorney this evening, and we are moving forward.[/QUOTE]
Here here.
Kiddo and parents do not need to justify their desire to be treated with fairness and decency just because they are buying a luxury item.
There’s a whole lot of bad legal advice on this thread. I’m glad the OP has her own attorney.
Good luck, OP! I really hope this all works out in favor of the little girl. Something similar happened with the first horse my family bought for me and we didn’t get the horse back, so I hope this story has a happier ending.
OP - I know nothing about the law, but I do know that around this point in a lawsuit most attorneys advise you to keep things off social media. Please be careful with what you’re posting here, on GFM, and Facebook.
Jingles for the kid and pony! This sounds like such a mess and I’m sorry y’all are in it!
[QUOTE=Altered39;8539023]
Ugh, I just set up the page, but now you have me back on the fence. While I do agree with the analysis that many outside the horse world may come to, I also feel that this is not a situation where money is being asked to BUY some kid a horse as a luxury. This is a less fortunate child who wants a career, and a client who has put forth every effort and hard earned money to buy something. They have been wronged, stolen from, and it is going to pose a financial challenge to right it. We fully expected to go it alone, but I do think it would be an amazing thing for people to unite, whether merely in thoughts and jingles, or with any assistance one may wish to offer. We are grateful for either, but are not asking for anything.
[edit]
Thank you all for all of the support. I confirmed with the attorney this evening, and we are moving forward.[/QUOTE]
Glad to see that you are taking a stand and not just walking away. So many clients do that and become just another statistic of one who was taken advantage of. Best of luck and sent some $$ to help the cause.
What happens if the court rules in favor of the seller? Granted this is most likely never going to ever happen but what if it did? Are your clients going to be able to pay up? And what about the pony? If the seller is as bad as depicted what if they do something to the pony to permanently injure it, then decide to give you a very unusable pony?
Have you tried getting a lawyer to send a letter stating the law in regards to the sale insisting the pony be released or you will take them to court before jumping into a full blow law suit? Additionally, someone needs to make sure the pony is still there, is still in good health etc.
I’m going to agree with HungarianHippo and alibi18, I don’t think asking others to donate to a lawsuit over a pony is appropriate. If your clients cannot afford to undertake this then they should have got their money back and moved on; however wrong on the seller’s part.
[QUOTE=yaya;8538281]
The term is “per se”, not “per say”
it is “language”, not " languish"
and it is " paper trail", not “paper trial”
So any legal advice from you should be taken with a very large chunk (not just a grain) of salt![/QUOTE]
lol, well if I was being paid I would have checked to make sure all of my “i” were dotted and my “ts” crossed. I usually try and check for spelling and grammar before posting. But was short on time and was called to work with the next set of horses. I do work and I work with horses, lots of them. 7 days a week.
I could use an editor. Care to work for free also?
I’m not an English major but I believe this post/comment would be called an
Ad hominem
Are your clients financially prepared if by some weird twist of fate they lose the case? I’m just putting that out there because with any law suit there is always that tiny chance that a judge rules in favor of the other side, despite what is an obvious an open and closed case in your favor.
[QUOTE=findeight;8538334]
Gumtree may not be going to a spelling bee but he’s bought and sold more horses then most of us have seen in our lifetimes including dealing with sales gone bad and lawyers who often can’t spell so good either.
OP has retained an attorney in this matter anyway.[/QUOTE]
lol, thanks. Your hired. My billing information can be found on the link to my home page with my profile. Which also has an uncorrected spelling mistake that someone pointed out a long time ago.
It also gives my contract information for anyone that would like to call and give me a piece of their mind. Or stop by my barn and do it in person.
I see this from a practical perspective. You are a young trainer, advising people with a very? limited budget to buy an underpriced pony three states away. You think you found a great bargain – who knows, these drunken people, who seem to be able to convince law enforcement that they are in the right in a small Southern town may actually have done this before. Wouldn’t it be better to let this go and find another pony?
It’s a family farm, which probably means the actual seller has no assets. This entire thing isn’t even your money, so it won’t be you going into debt to try to finish this dubious deal.
You are young, but I do not believe you are advising your clients correctly in this situation. Take the money, and use all that attorney money and bail and all the rest to buy a better pony!
Don’t let your ego get in the way of practical financial advice. Yes, they deserve to be punished. Post it on RateMyHorsePro, out them to the world, shame them. But spending your client’s money, on your advisement, is really not good business judgement to me. I doubt the pony is that great, really, is it?
I know I am in the minority here.
Edit: and I agree with js, sometimes things don’t go as you planned, no matter how obvious it seems to you. What happens if the pony is gone now? They just spent thousands of dollars and get exactly nothing, now they can’t afford any pony, at all.
They may have done it before… and will do it again if nobody stands up to them!!
Hope you are never in this position!
It’s not her money. It’s the clients – and from the sound of it, they aren’t made of money. It is a luxury item. My husband and I are small business owners, of course we have been in this position, and in point of fact, it hasn’t always worked out the way we wanted it to, despite being in the right. Devious people have ways of getting out of paying for their crimes. They just do, that’s what makes them scummy.
But again, I didn’t expect many to agree with me.
