NC Attorney General asks for nearly $1.7M judgment against Holly Christina Photography in Raleigh
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A new court filing could mean significant financial consequences for a Raleigh wedding photography company accused of taking thousands of dollars from couples and failing to provide the services they paid for.
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is asking a judge to enter a default judgment against Holly Christina Photography and its owners, Holly Christina Scott Ayscue and Christopher Owen Ayscue.
The Attorney General's Office is seeking nearly $600,000 in restitution for consumers, more than $1.1 million in civil penalties, and an order requiring the company to turn over photos and videos that customers have not received.
The motion alleges the defendants failed to fully comply with a previous court order requiring them to provide all undelivered photos and videos to couples within 30 days. Jackson's office says it has received 228 consumer complaints about Holly Christina Photography. According to the motion, 142 of those consumers have not been refunded and are owed nearly $600,000.
"These couples paid for memories from one of the most important days of their lives," Jackson said in a statement. "The company failed to deliver them, then failed to obey a court order requiring them to turn them over."
The latest court action follows an investigation by Troubleshooter Diane Wilson into complaints from couples who said they paid Holly Christina Photography thousands of dollars to photograph and/or videotape their weddings, but never received what they were promised.
In February, Jackson sued the company and its two owners, alleging they misled and deceived customers by failing to provide photography and videography services they had contracted and paid for.
In May, the Attorney General's Office won a preliminary injunction against the company and its owners. At that time, the judge ordered the defendants to provide couples with all edited and unedited photos and videos they had paid for but had not received.
The judge also froze the company's assets and ordered the defendants to stop doing business in North Carolina while the case continued. The Attorney General's latest motion alleges the defendants did not fully comply with that order.
The state says the company failed to turn over all raw and edited photos and videos within the required 30-day period. The motion also alleges the defendants failed to provide the Attorney General's Office with a verified list identifying the consumers who received photos and videos and describing what was delivered.
It's now in the judge's hands to enforce the original default, which the state says they have defaulted on.
Besides civil legal troubles, the Ayscues face criminal charges after a couple says they paid thousands to HCP, and they did not show up to document their wedding.
Wilson talked to Holly and Chris after one of their court hearings, and Holly said, "I have done everything in my power to fulfill what I can. It has been very difficult in our family.
Chris said, "We are working our hardest to fix everything the fastest we can."
Holly said some of the issues are due to, "I was hospitalized for two different occasions. I got very sick. It is a medical illness that caused the business to fail. I've been trying to recover. I'm not doing well, and I haven't been able to speak to the public because I'm focusing on recovery and just keeping my family together."
