Engaged Couple, Others Accuse Banquet Hall Operator Facing Foreclosure Of Booking Events (& Pocketing Customer Deposits) Scheduled To Take Place After Date Set For Public Sale

In West Hartford, Connecticut, the West HartfordPatch reports:

• The doors to La Renaissance were locked [last month] amid reports that the popular East Windsor banquet facility that has played host to myriad proms, graduation ceremonies and wedding receptions throughout the years is subject to a court-ordered foreclosure sale in April.
  
  Upon hearing the news, several customers who had already put down a deposit to hold a function at the facility have contacted the Attorney General’s office and the state Department of Consumer Protection hoping for help with recouping their money and securing a new venue for their event.
  
  The owners of La Renaissance, located on Route 5, have been going through foreclosure proceedings since July of 2012, according to the state judicial website.

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• A number of consumers have said that, despite the order for the foreclosure sale, the owners of La Renaissance continued to book events - and accept deposits - that were scheduled to take place after the sale.
  
  One such case is that of Jose Rivera, who wrote in a complaint to the Attorney General’s office that the owners of La Renaissance took two $2,000 payments - $4,000 in total - as a deposit for a July wedding reception without telling Rivera that the facility was due to be sold.
  
  Rivera said that he and his fiancée are now looking for a new venue to host their wedding reception, in addition to possibly having lost $4,000.
  
  The state Attorney General’s office has fielded dozens of similar complaints from people who have said that they have deposited thousands of dollars to secure dates at La Renaissance, according to Susan Kinsman, director of communications of the Attorney General’s office.
  
  “The Office of the Attorney General is looking into the La Renaissance matter with the Department of Consumer Protection,” Kinsman wrote in an e-mail to Patch.
  
  Telephone calls to La Renaissance and its owners were unanswered. A message left with the attorney of one of La Renaissance’s owners was not returned.

For the story, see Customers Say La Renaissance Took Deposits After Foreclosure Order.