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Is Russ Whitney litigious? 1

Litigious is an adjective. It means inclined to engage in lawsuits.
As I am using it here, I mean someone who is inclined to threaten or file lawsuits against others or to behave in ways that inspires others to sue him.
Does Russ Whitney spend more than his share of time in court? I think that’s fair to say. See the various items below that appear to involve him or one or more of his companies or, in one case, his wife. These are taken from various court Web sites like the federal PACER service and the Lee County, FL Clerk’s Web site. They may not necessarily be lawsuits per se.
I cannot be certain that each and every one of these cases relates to whether Russ Whitney is litigious. He has used many, many company names over the years. He has also formed alliances of various types over the years with various companies like Leasecomm. In some cases, an alliance may not give Whitney authority to file a lawsuit or prevent one from being filed by the company in question. In that case, the existence of the case would not say much about his litigiousness, only about his propensity to associate with litigious people.
I have repeatedly asked Whitney to tell me if there are any errors or omissions in articles like this one. He absolutely refuses “to do my homework for me” as his lawyer puts it. But they do not mind doing that exact same homework in the form of court papers. In other words, they are far more interested in having something to sue me about than they are in the accuracy of stories I contact them to check on. Seems like that is further evidence that he is litigious.
Robert Allen cooperated
I once did an expose of Nothing Down author Robert Allen. In the course of it, I found a number of lawsuits against him that seemed to indicate that he did not pay his bills on time. As with Whitney, I contacted him before publication to make sure the story was accurate. He said that two of the lawsuits against him were not indicative of his not paying his bills on time. Actually, it did not require any “homework.” He was able to do it off the top of his head as I expect Whitney could as well.
I called the opposing attorneys in the suits against Allen and confirmed that Allen was telling the truth about them and I removed those two cases from the story. I would have done the same for Whitney where appropriate, but his character does not rise to the level of Robert Allen’s. I would also opine that although Allen has many faults that I have commented upon at my Web site and in my books and newsletters, litigiousness does not appear to be one of them. Russ Whitney pretty much has the monopoly on litigiousness among real estate gurus.
The following is intended to eventually be a complete list of court actions and threats that Russ Whitney and his companies have been involved in as either plaintiff or defendant. It is not complete at present. To complete it, I need readers who know of other court proceedings or threats not listed here to tell me about them. Ditto missing details of the proceedings that are listed here.
Thanks,
John T. Reed

COLUMN HEADINGS: Date Opposing parties Case number Synopsis Court

Date
Opposing parties
Case number
Synopsis
Court
1974?
People of the State of New York?
?
Whitney agreed to plead guilty to second-degree robbery in a plea bargain that got him a four-year prison sentence
Queens, NY?
June, 1981?
man Whitney hit with his pickup truck
Control # 46-1-84-0132
Calendar No. 84-0767
Index No. (82-0860)
Whitney hit a pedestrian with his pick-up truck and left the scene without reporting the accident. A grand jury decided not to indict, but a civil jury found Russ Whitney liable on January 14, 1988 and ordered him to pay a judgment of $1,190,809.00 to the victim. Whitney avoided paying the vast majority of the judgment by threatening to declare bankruptcy.
State of New York Supreme Court, County of Schenectady
8/15/95
Fun Rentals Franchises, Inc. v. Kim Fonceca
95-6108-CA-LG
Fun Rentals was a Whitney company that failed suit was for conversion, breach of contract
Lee County, FL Court
11/9/1995
Sgarlata, et al
6:1995cv01144
Unknown cause of action involving International Administrative Services, Inc. which is the same name as a company that is or was reportedly affiliated with Whitney
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers, FL
November 29, 1995
Final judgment 12/19/1997  04:08:00

Employee that Whitney got pregnant
Case #95-009059CA
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 2901/3652
paternity and child support suit by one of Whitney’s employees. Whitney lost
Lee County, FL Court
12/26/95
Constatin Fontana
CACE 95017180
contract indebtedness suit by Fontana against Fun Rentals Inc. and Russ Whitney
Broward County, FL Court
3/11/1996  03:51:00
Ketridge Mary Lou
File Number 3927142
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 2684/2616
Legal: CS88-6465CA,2082/569
Lee County Court Web site says this is an “Order;” no other explanation
Lee County, FL Court
5/30/1996  11:05:00

City of Fort Myers, FL
File Number 3971282
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 2710/1749
Legal: STRAP#13-44-24-P3-00409.008A
Failure to pay for demolition and clean-up costs—against Whitney’s wife
Lee County, FL Court
March 5, 1997
Tennessee Attorney General Division of Consumer Affairs
Formal Action #7853
Many-count complaint about misleading advertising
Read the actual final order for yourself for details.
IN THE CHANCERY COURT FOR DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE, TWENTIETH JUDICIAL DISTRICT

STATE OF TENNESSEE
10/13/1997
Donahue Joe
File Number 4256729
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 2877/1622
Legal: CS95-6136CA
This involved Fun Rentals Franchising, Inc., a failed Whitney business venture
Lee County, FL Court
1/8/1998
Bundschu Charles C Jr
File Number 4304914
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 2907/840
Legal: CS92-3775CC,OR2429/1814
Lee County Court Web site says this is a “satisfaction of judgment document;” no other explanation
Lee County, FL Court
2/11/1998
various people and entities named Wicklander
File Number 4324964
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 2919/2570
Legal: CS97-8178CA
Lee County Court Web site says this is a “notice of dismissal;” no other explanation
Lee County, FL Court
4/7/1998
Fortune Financial, Inc.
2:1998cv00136
Unknown cause of action involving Precision software Services, Inc. which is the same name as a company that is or was reportedly affiliated with Whitney
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers, FL
4/15/98
5/21/98
8/24/98
Tony Hill

May be related to Verias case below
Minnesota
5/1/98
5/21/98
8/24/98
Veritas Communications, Inc. and an individual
File number 980415066
Unknown case facts. Whitney lost two judgments
Conciliation Court Hennepin County
857C Minneapolis
5/8/1998
various people and entities named Wicklander
File Number 4385485
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 2957/2928
Legal: CS97-81CA,NE1/4 36-44S-24E
Lee County Court Web site says this is a “judgment;” no other explanation
Lee County, FL Court
6/2/1998
Michigan Attorney General
AG File No. 98-10060
Unfair, unconscionable, or deceptive methods, acts, or practices in the conduct of trade or commerce

9/1/1998
Lowry
2:1998cv00629
Unknown cause of action involving Professional Marketing International which is the same name as a company that is or was reportedly affiliated with Whitney
U.S. District Court for the District of Utah
2/12/1998
Official Com. Cred.
6:1998cv00154
Unknown cause of action involving International Administrative Services, Inc. which is the same name as a company that is or was reportedly affiliated with Whitney
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers, FL
5/11/1998
Case is styled as: In Re: International Administrative Services, Inc.
6:1998cv00547
Unknown cause of action involving International Administrative Services, Inc. which is the same name as a company that is or was reportedly affiliated with Whitney
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers, FL
2/11/1999
Gloria F. Bonilla

Lawsuit against WIN Systems, Inc.
California
6/9/99
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
D. Michael Fisher
Attorney General

No. 392 MD99
violations of the following sub-paragraphs of §201-3(4) of the Consumer Protection Law:

v. Representing that goods or services have sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, or quantities that they do not have or that a person has sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation or connection that he does not have;

vii. Representing that goods or services are of a particular standard, quality or grade, or that goods are of a particular style or model, if they are of another; and

ix. Advertising goods or services with intent not to sell them as advertised.
Read complete case at WhitneyPA.html

PA?
12/1/2000
FL Division of Unemployment Compensation
File Number 5013429
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 3333/900
Legal: OR3198-2787
Cancellation of a tax lien
Lee County, FL Court
4/19/2001
Gagnon, et al
2:2001 cv00200
This is Matt Gagnon, operator of the Mazu.com Web site which rates business opportunities; See my article about Whitney litigation against Gagnon
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers, FL
10/04/2001
Big Creek Development Company

This was a lawsuit against Russ Whitney’s Wealth Intelligence Center of Atlanta, Inc.
Georgia
10/15/2001
Delores Williams Bentley

Michigan
10/24/2001
American International Group v. Bell
3:2001cv01954
Unknown cause of action involving Global Resource Network which is the same name as a company that Whitney was apparently associated with
U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
2002?
Todd Dotson
?
Dotson sued Whitney. The case was settled. Later, Whitney sued Dotson. Whitney got his deposition in this case postponed at the end of April, 2005.

3/25/2002
Giles Thomas H
Scharger Jack
Hildreth Lawrence F
Repperger Cliff
File Number 5395057
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 3607/1168
Legal: CASE#01-9464CA,DISMISSED

Lee County Court Web site says this is an “Order;” no other explanation
Lee County, FL Court
8/15/2002
Hughes Spradling Shelley M
File Number 5537052
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 3706/4500
Legal: CS02-3600SP

Lee County Court Web site says this is a “judgment;” no other explanation
Lee County, FL Court