Expert: Kitty Kavey - 5/30/2008

Question
I enrolled my daughter in an acting/modeling program in Las Vegas. I was very
skeptical and cynical in doing so and did my research with the name brand of
the company and they were very convincing and seem to be very legit.  Today
with 3 sessions to go, I received an email that they are shutting down and will be
filing for bankruptcy. This school is named PACIFIC MODELING ACTING
ACADEMY.  I've tried to contact the school and also their "National Talent
Director", Kathy Eisner.  Of course no response. Please advise on where I can go
from here. Thank you.  

Answer
I would suggest contacting the Attorney General for your state, and look into the consumer protection part of the Attorney General's office:
http://ag.state.nv.us/org/bcp/bcp.htm

There are possibilities that may exist for you to get some or all of your money back.  If the school was required by the state to be bonded, you can file a claim against the bond.  If there are legal proceedings involving the bankruptcy, you may be able to collect or file something in connection with that.

Or you may be able to start a class action suit with other parents/students who have lost money with this acting/modeling school.  Usually, the media will be able to run a story on the scam if there was quite a few people involved, and it will help locate more victims.

Here on AllExperts there are also attorneys who may be able to be of additional help if the Attorney General's office cannot point you in the right direction.

Good luck to you, and I'm sorry that this company and others like it exist.  It really gives a bad name to the industry, and I think it's terrible to mess with a young person's dream.

~Kitty