You might find the following two items
Corporate Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy FAQ
to provide some answers. One really can't tell if this TADQ is a stall tactic or an actual attempt to involve other parties (Arte Forma) to fund or assist in the development of products. My attempts, and those of some others I know, to contact Arte Forma, have been in vain. From all I can tell, Arte Forma is nothing more than a family business that imports both furniture (Windsor, GA) and some audio equipment from asian manufacturer, Hans Labs. The audio equipment that I've seen is mostly tube based and has been found for sale on Audiogon. Whether that was in order to get rid of demo equipment or simply to liquidate whatever stock they had because they're just not catching on, I don't know. To me anyways, the inability to establish either phone or email contact is not inspiring.
This is the way I see it because I'm not a glass half full or half empty type of guy - I just don't see that there's a glass to begin with. If the whole Arte Forma thing is legit, maybe it buys Longmont a little bit of time. If it's not legit, and by now everyone has got to know that Schifter was completely full of sh!t in all those internet and magazine interviews, then Longmont is looking to sell off as many assets as it can (mostly the ELT stuff that's been laying around forever) at the best possible price prior to shutting its doors.
The smartest thing you can do if you're owed something from them is to take a two-pronged approach. The first, if your debt warrants it, is to file a lawsuit - small claims if need be (go to the damned Colorado website and find out how to do it for god's sake already) - against the company. Have it served on Suzanne Johnson as she is a registered AV451 representative and officer and at least she hasn't been indicted. The second is to also go to the Colorado AG's website and look at the sections that deal with consumer protection and start making some phone calls to see what can be done.
As you're doing the above, do the smart thing and get yourself organized. Establish a written or typed timeline of what happened - a chain of events if you will. Print out all your email correspondence that substantiates this timeline and get it in order. Put it in a folder with sticky tabs for easy reference. It'll be useful for both approaches.
Now, there are some of you who are thinking to themselves, how can I file a small claims if I'm out of state? This can be done over the web and you'll see how to do it if you just put a little effort into it. There will be some who will say, but yeah, I can do that but it's going to take money and time for travel. Well, you're right it will and it just might be that if you're owed a few hundred, it's not going to make much financial sense. Some relief in that case may be able to be obtained when filing your taxes. For those who are owed a few thousand though (limits for small claims are up to $7,500), taking the lawsuit approach just might be a calculated gamble with a relatively small downside. You're going to get a court date after the papers are served and you'll be kept apprised if there are delays. Use Expedia and especially look into Southwest Air for flights on that date from wherever you live. In fact, do it now to get a handle on what the RT costs would be say 2 weeks or a month from now. Most of you have got vacation and sick time. So you'll burn a couple of days. Like you haven't ever called in sick when you're feeling fine? The Boulder area is a lovely part of the country which can provide some compensation. The thing here is folks, even if you don't collect right on the spot after you win, and win you will, your status then becomes one of a secured creditor. That means in a bankrupty proceeding, after the legal costs to do so are paid, during any liquidation you're at the front of the line for what's left.
Also, something else to keep in mind here. Since you've got all your records, virtually any lawyer in the phone book offers a free 30 minute or so consultation. Find one and see what they recommend. Time is of the essence here so find some time this weekend for heaven's sake and get yourself organized like I suggested above. You've been waiting for what? 6 months? 1 year? 2 years? 3 years? Each day you wait is one day closer to that time when it won't matter what you do. You want to worry about their family? Let someone else do it for you. This isn't personal. It's business.
