Hero Restoration, Anyone know the latest? 24 24

[Neo "The One"]

On 3/8/2024 at 11:29 AM, mattn792 said:

It might be worth paying the few bucks for PACER access.  Depending on the case status and what he put in his original petition, he may have committed, and may still be committing bankruptcy fraud.

—if it is the same Mike.

I mean if these fees are right, and nothing 'hidden' I think it may be  worth it. 

[jimjum12]

On 3/8/2024 at 11:29 AM, GaryHanson said:

Live chickens... I mean, in some small way this board give me joy... lmao

I'm truly sorry this happened to you. Comic collectors are usually an intelligent and honorable lot, but every now and then a real turd plinks into the commode. I was once referred to him by another presser with high regards, luckily my procrastination and the emergence of a good source here, semi locally, enabled me to dodge a bullet. There, but for the grace of God, go I. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Edited March 8 by jimjum12

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

Like many long-time board members, I have learned about an endless array of scams on them. I am glad to have done so because, as is said, forewarned is forearmed.

[Qalyar]

I can confirm that this was the individual Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing for the same Mike who operated Hero Restorations. This filing asserted that the majority of his debt was consumer debt. It is... interesting to note that at the time of the filing, he claimed to own zero dollars in collectibles, and that his business, Hero Restorations, possessed only $2000 worth of collectible comics. No individual book owners are listed as creditors.

Again, if you sent books to Hero Restorations that you got back in the same or worse condition as submitted, or that you have never gotten back, you need legal counsel... a long time ago, but seriously-I-mean-it now. As always, I am not a lawyer. I am not your lawyer. I am double-extra not an expert in bankruptcy law. It is outside anything even like my areas of expertise to judge whether or not this constituted asset concealment, or whether Mike had a fiduciary duty to notify the customers of Hero Restoration of any of this (or even the extent to which they are creditors under the law, frankly). There are a lot of complications here, and for some of those issues, you are potentially four years into a five-year filing window. If Mike took your books, stop farting around on this thread, stop entertaining whatever nonsense the guy with multiple accounts is up to, and go secure counsel.

[revat]

On 3/8/2024 at 9:18 AM, Qalyar said:

I can confirm that this was the individual Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing for the same Mike who operated Hero Restorations. This filing asserted that the majority of his debt was consumer debt. It is... interesting to note that at the time of the filing, he claimed to own zero dollars in collectibles, and that his business, Hero Restorations, possessed only $2000 worth of collectible comics. No individual book owners are listed as creditors.

Again, if you sent books to Hero Restorations that you got back in the same or worse condition as submitted, or that you have never gotten back, you need legal counsel... a long time ago, but seriously-I-mean-it now. As always, I am not a lawyer. I am not your lawyer. I am double-extra not an expert in bankruptcy law. It is outside anything even like my areas of expertise to judge whether or not this constituted asset concealment, or whether Mike had a fiduciary duty to notify the customers of Hero Restoration of any of this (or even the extent to which they are creditors under the law, frankly). There are a lot of complications here, and for some of those issues, you are potentially four years into a five-year filing window. If Mike took your books, stop farting around on this thread, stop entertaining whatever nonsense the guy with multiple accounts is up to, and go secure counsel.

As a non-lawyer not giving legal advice, this makes a lot of sense to me.  I'd say also file a police/law enforcement complaint ASAP if you think a crime has been committed, get some government paperwork filed somewhere.  

[ExNihilo]

On 3/8/2024 at 9:18 AM, Qalyar said:

he claimed to own zero dollars in collectibles, and that his business, Hero Restorations, possessed only $2000 worth of collectible comics. No individual book owners are listed as creditors.

I'm curious what benefit there is to falsifying his bankruptcy claim as it's rather evident that Hero possessed more than $2k in collectible books at the time of filing (we know he had that one AF15 for over a decade).  It's probably also safe to assume he had more than $0 in personal collectibles, especially since he is currently claiming to be selling "personal" possessions on eBay.  (Emphasis on "personal" since we know some of these are actually customer books).  Further, are there any consequences to falsifying bankruptcy filings?

[Mr. Zipper]

The 2020 bankruptcy is puzzling. At that time, pressing submissions were taking many months due to massive demand, prices went up and he opened a new office in NJ to handle C&P. If I recall, the Oregon office was focusing on restoration work. In short, money should have been pouring over the transom in mid-2020. 

Has anyone contacted former employees? I can't recall the name of the guy who ran the NJ pressing office, but he was active on social media. Is it possible there are books somewhere in NJ? 

[Qalyar]

On 3/8/2024 at 11:34 AM, revat said:

As a non-lawyer not giving legal advice, this makes a lot of sense to me.  I'd say also file a police/law enforcement complaint ASAP if you think a crime has been committed, get some government paperwork filed somewhere.  

Attorney. First.

Do not go on record with the police until you have sat down with your counsel and determined what the appropriate actions are here. Just because you are the victim here does not mean the cops are on your side; they are not. They are on their side. For example, while I do think it's likely that some of you are victims of actual, legal theft -- especially anyone who had their books sold by Mike -- you are not competent to understand the legal implications. If you're filing a police report, you will be asked for basic details of the crime, such as the date that it occurred. Is that the date you sent your books to Mike (obviously not). Is it the date he listed them for sale? The date the transaction completed? The date he actually transferred them to the third-party buyer? Filing a police report in which you get the details wrong may limit your legal options later. Also, frankly, this is a confusing, expansive case that's probably in a different jurisdiction and that involves property the cops probably don't care about; they are not going to do anything helpful on their own.

Get. A. Lawyer. They will advise you what official actions you need to take, and when.

On 3/8/2024 at 12:03 PM, ExNihilo said:

Further, are there any consequences to falsifying bankruptcy filings?

Potentially, very much yes.

[RockMyAmadeus]

On 3/8/2024 at 9:18 AM, Qalyar said:

If Mike took your books, stop farting around on this thread, stop entertaining whatever nonsense the guy with multiple accounts is up to, and go secure counsel.

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/bankruptcy/hiding-assets-property-bankruptcy.html

[RockMyAmadeus]

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/11/548

[Neo "The One"]

On 3/8/2024 at 1:05 PM, Mr. Zipper said:

The 2020 bankruptcy is puzzling. At that time, pressing submissions were taking many months due to massive demand, prices went up and he opened a new office in NJ to handle C&P. If I recall, the Oregon office was focusing on restoration work. In short, money should have been pouring over the transom in mid-2020. 

Has anyone contacted former employees? I can't recall the name of the guy who ran the NJ pressing office, but he was active on social media. Is it possible there are books somewhere in NJ? 

Hey - so I have a contact (no not Flake / Cantina) that says he's spoken to someone at the NJ office, but he had to sign a non-compete (the former employee).  Since HR is in effect defunct, maybe this no longer applies. And again, this is all second hand, so don't quote me. Let me see what I can do digging up that name or contact info.   Also, for the record, I originally sent my ASM 129 for a CP to the NJ office in October '22, but it was re-routed to Orgeon after it arrived there with no explaination. (Per the tracking updates I recieved). Maybe they had a mail forward order in with the Post Office at that time?   

[Neo "The One"]

On 3/8/2024 at 1:05 PM, Qalyar said:

Attorney. First.

Do not go on record with the police until you have sat down with your counsel and determined what the appropriate actions are here. Just because you are the victim here does not mean the cops are on your side; they are not. They are on their side. For example, while I do think it's likely that some of you are victims of actual, legal theft -- especially anyone who had their books sold by Mike -- you are not competent to understand the legal implications. If you're filing a police report, you will be asked for basic details of the crime, such as the date that it occurred. Is that the date you sent your books to Mike (obviously not). Is it the date he listed them for sale? The date the transaction completed? The date he actually transferred them to the third-party buyer? Filing a police report in which you get the details wrong may limit your legal options later. Also, frankly, this is a confusing, expansive case that's probably in a different jurisdiction and that involves property the cops probably don't care about; they are not going to do anything helpful on their own.

Get. A. Lawyer. They will advise you what official actions you need to take, and when.

Potentially, very much yes.

So this is where everything gets confusing.  Others had DM'd me the exact opposite, report to Oregon PD as soon as possible.  They seemed to come from a Law enforcement background.  What I have done was fill out this - https://justice.oregon.gov/consumercomplaints/ And again I was advised that this was not necessarily the best move, and not to involve too many organizations, as they may pass the buck.  So where I'm at is to question - is a $3000 book worth the lawyer fees?  Or if we somehow put all of these claims together does it make more sense.  And yeah, I'm not a lawyer, and I don't play one on Televsion, so I really have no idea...

[Neo "The One"]

On 3/8/2024 at 1:35 PM, GaryHanson said:

So this is where everything gets confusing.  Others had DM'd me the exact opposite, report to Oregon PD as soon as possible.  They seemed to come from a Law enforcement background.  What I have done was fill out this - https://justice.oregon.gov/consumercomplaints/ And again I was advised that this was not necessarily the best move, and not to involve too many organizations, as they may pass the buck.  So where I'm at is to question - is a $3000 book worth the lawyer fees?  Or if we somehow put all of these claims together does it make more sense.  And yeah, I'm not a lawyer, and I don't play one on Televsion, so I really have no idea...

Quoting myself.  What is good is that IF your books were sold on ebay (as apparent in my case).  There is a form to fill out, but they are asking law enforcement to do it with a case number.  So even though I do agree the lawyer is a good idea (although probably not cost effective), I think I'm going that route.  Please everyone - take some action.  It has to be better than nothing.  And honestly ebay was probably the worst place to sell stolen books.  What about other markets - Craigslist, Facebook etc.  He may currently be selling stolen books elsewhere.  

[Qalyar]

On 3/8/2024 at 12:35 PM, GaryHanson said:

So this is where everything gets confusing.  Others had DM'd me the exact opposite, report to Oregon PD as soon as possible.  They seemed to come from a Law enforcement background.  What I have done was fill out this - https://justice.oregon.gov/consumercomplaints/ And again I was advised that this was not necessarily the best move, and not to involve too many organizations, as they may pass the buck.  So where I'm at is to question - is a $3000 book worth the lawyer fees?  Or if we somehow put all of these claims together does it make more sense.  And yeah, I'm not a lawyer, and I don't play one on Televsion, so I really have no idea...

Filing a police report on your own is all well and good if you've been porch pirated or if someone broke into your car. In most of that cases, you need that in order to file for insurance claims, which is probably your only recourse. If some meth head steals cuts out your catalytic converter, it's not like you're going to (or going to be able to) file suit against them.

This is not that. The underlying torts (and maybe crimes) here are more likely to be fraud or breach of contract issues that outright theft (for many of you). And now, there are bankruptcy law implications. Any attorney that you want to be involved with will give you a free initial consultation, to see whether they're able to help you and to provide an initial consideration of what your options might be. Whether it's financially viable to pursue the case is absolutely a topic that will be discussed.

If you don't know where to start, there are also legal outreach organizations that can help you find an appropriate attorney. There are also several firms that sort of specialize in connecting people with appropriate legal counsel even if that's not them (without regard to whether they're the best such option, I know that Eagle Law does this).

On 3/8/2024 at 12:39 PM, GaryHanson said:

Please everyone - take some action.  It has to be better than nothing

It is possible to take actions that will limit your future legal rights and options. This is why there are lawyers, people.

[Sigur Ros]

On 3/8/2024 at 4:33 AM, Flake Tapper said:

And I'll say it again,  for those of you who think this is a game, stay out of the thread and move on.  Your childish, snarky comments don't help those out who lost huge books and a lot of money. 

I'm sure people horsing around under multiple accounts is definitely helping those who lost.....

[BlowUpTheMoon]

On 3/8/2024 at 1:31 PM, GaryHanson said:

but he had to sign a non-compete (the former employee).

Non-compete is very different from non-disclosure. 

[jimjum12]

On 3/8/2024 at 1:35 PM, GaryHanson said:

So this is where everything gets confusing.  Others had DM'd me the exact opposite, report to Oregon PD as soon as possible.  They seemed to come from a Law enforcement background.  What I have done was fill out this - https://justice.oregon.gov/consumercomplaints/ And again I was advised that this was not necessarily the best move, and not to involve too many organizations, as they may pass the buck.  So where I'm at is to question - is a $3000 book worth the lawyer fees?  Or if we somehow put all of these claims together does it make more sense.  And yeah, I'm not a lawyer, and I don't play one on Televsion, so I really have no idea...

His M.O. is basically the same as a dealer who grossly overgrades, or a delivery service that breeches their contractual obligations with impunity. They assume fair recourse is too much trouble for dispute. They enrich themselves by assuming that YOU are their patsy. Sometimes we have to consider the cost of our efforts at punitive measures, to be an investment in the future. Just because you forgive someone doesn't mean that their punishment may be the best thing for them.  Light him up ... make him recoil at even the thought of defrauding someone again. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Edited March 8 by jimjum12

[mattn792]

Bankruptcy fraud has a statute of limitations of 5 years, but when that starts can be a moving start line, especially if the case is still open.  

If there is a court appointed trustee, that person’s information should be available in PACER.

[Neo "The One"]

On 3/8/2024 at 1:58 PM, Sigur Ros said:

I'm sure people horsing around under multiple accounts is definitely helping those who lost.....

Yeah - that was not the smartest way to put that. "And I'll say it again,  for those of you who think this is a game, stay out of the thread and move on.  Your childish, snarky comments don't help those out who lost huge books and a lot of money. "