One Love will look to settle, recoup items
The Aspen Times
One Love Aspen, a smoke shop that saw all of its cash and inventory seized Friday as a result of bad debt, will look to settle with a California supplier so that it can recoup its items and reopen the store, a local attorney said Monday.
On Friday, Pitkin County sheriff’s deputies oversaw the seizure of all cash and inventory at One Love in response to a court order that states the shop owes $6,937 to Vapornation and parent company Better Life Products Inc., a retailer based in Marina Del Ray, California.
Though attorney Lauren Maytin does not represent One Love in an official capacity, she has represented store manager Matt Pavia in the past, and said there’s potential she will represent store owner Barbara Serrano, Pavia’s mother. Maytin’s understanding after speaking to Serrano is that Serrano will look to make a settlement on the debt, recover her inventory and reopen as soon as possible.
“She’ll look to cure the problem for pennies on the dollar,” Maytin said.
Since January, Better Life Products has been in a legal wrangling with One Love over about $1,500 in unpaid debt, according to court filings. Due to “consequential damages, late fees, costs, attorney’s fees, interest” and other claims, that amount has grown to $6,937, which the court recognized in an August judgment. Representing Better Life Products, Garfield & Hecht Attorney Chris Bryan said last week that One Love and its representatives have been absent from all legal proceedings this summer. On Monday, Bryan said a settlement “is not out of the question.”
Until then, all One Love inventory is being held at Columbine Moving and Storage, which charges $68 per month for each 5-by-7-by-7-foot storage crate. Under Colorado law, One Love has 14 days to either resolve the debt or file to have the items exempt, and if no action is taken, the items will go to auction.
A complaint filed on June 19 states that One Love failed to pay invoiced amounts for an order received in January. Upon receiving the goods, One Love tendered a check for $1,794, which was returned as insufficient, according to the complaint. One Love then attempted to resolve the matter with four checks in April, two of which were dishonored, according to the filing. Better Life Products then issued a notice that the outstanding balance owed under the first two “dishonored instruments” was $962 and demanded payment within 15 days. A second notice also was submitted for the amount of $462. No payment was received for either, and Better Life Products took civil action.
