Rhode Island Bank Sues Curt Schilling

Andy Chalk

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Rhode Island Bank Sues Curt Schilling


Citizens Bank says the founder of collapsed Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios is personally responsible for $2.4 million.

Not entirely surprisingly, fallout from the collapse of 38 Studios is starting to come down on the head of Curt Schilling, the former Red Sox ace and long-time gamer who founded the studio in 2006. After a rapid spiral downward, the studio declared bankruptcy [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117785-Amid-Controversy-38-Studios-Declares-Bankruptcy-UPDATED] earlier this month, leaving a mountain of debt in its passing, but Citizens Bank says Schilling "personally guaranteed" nearly $2.4 million in credit the bank extended to the studio, and now it wants him to pay up.

In November 2010, according to the complaint, Citizens Bank provided 38 Studios a $2 million letter of credit, which it used as a security deposit on the One Empire Plaza building in Providence, Rhode Island, to which it relocated in April 2011; shortly thereafter, 38 Studios opened a separate $350,000 corporate credit card account with the bank. But the studio defaulted on a payment of just over $371,000 on the line of credit, leaving it on the hook for a total of $2,060,241, while the amount owing on the credit card as of June 7 is just over $373,000.

The grand total comes to $2,394,240.40, a figure that's just going to go up as interest, legal fees and other costs accrue. Unfortunately for Schilling, the bank claims that he "absolutely and unconditionally guaranteed to the Bank the payment and performance of all indebtedness, obligations and liabilities of 38 Studios to the Bank, then existing or thereafter arising." In other words, Schilling said he'd cover it, and now the bank is knocking.

As if that's not bad enough, this apparently isn't the only 38 Studios loan Schilling personally guaranteed. He did the same for a $4 million line of credit, later reduced to $1.5 million, with the Middlesex Savings Bank in July 2010. Schilling has not yet commented on the lawsuit.

Source: WPRI [http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/providence/citizens-bank-sues-curt-schilling-on-38-studios-loan]


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bliebblob

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Sep 9, 2009
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And so it begins...

In my head, Schillings situation is kinda starting to look like this:

But with Schilling as Sparrow and investors for cannibals.
 

Fiz_The_Toaster

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Jesus, guy can't a break can he?

I had a feeling this was going to get ugly, and it looks like the shit hit the fan.
 

Evil Smurf

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Nov 11, 2011
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*sees shit covered ceiling*

At least he is not blaming used games
 

Tony2077

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oh well and hear i was hoping something good would come out of all this guess it didn't or its so shit covered its hard to see
 

draythefingerless

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fucking idiot. should of thought with his head with that much money. then makes an MMO. and turns it into a single player game.
 

Tucker154

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draythefingerless said:
fucking idiot. should of thought with his head with that much money. then makes an MMO. and turns it into a single player game.
Clarification: Kingdoms of Amalur only purpose was to set up the setting for an MMO, not that they were making an MMO and decided to just turn it into a single player game.

OT: I do feel kind of bad for the guy, but I seriously cant help but to think that he is just reaping the consequences of his actions if he was taking all of this money,seemingly knowing that he had no way to repay it.
 

Lvl 64 Klutz

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Let's forget everything else for a moment and look just at the numbers: Why is a start-up game studio with one game under their belt dealing with this much money anyway? This is why independent studios are thriving, they make fantastic games for cheap, until they can invest more money into a project.

The basket, there is only one, and it is full of eggs.
 

Baresark

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I guess that 38 Studios wasn't an LLC. Not a very smart way to do business. Or maybe it was and Citizens Bank is trying to juke the laws. But, they did declare bankruptcy. Meaning that if he had his personal name on anything, he is boned.
 

ryukage_sama

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The funny thing about loans to start businesses is that the business does not yet exist to be held liable for the loan instead of the person starting the business. The business doesn't have a credit history, so the owner must take on the risk and liability for the loan. My father had to do this to buy a business. Ten years later, when he wasn't able to collect money owed him by his customers faster than he owed it to others, he was forced out of business by his landlord but was still liable for the original loan. If Mr. Schilling wants bankruptcy protection, he will need to declare bankruptcy himself.
 

Hungry Donner

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Baresark said:
Not a very smart way to do business.
That seems to be par for the course with Schilling. I believe he also secured multiple loans backed by promised tax credits . . . which weren't promised and never arrived.
 

Fiz_The_Toaster

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Zachary Amaranth said:
Fiz_The_Toaster said:
Jesus, guy can't a break can he?

I had a feeling this was going to get ugly, and it looks like the shit hit the fan.
Does he deserve a break, though?
I'm not saying he deserves one, but, I mean, how much more crap can be thrown at him for this before it starts getting ridiculous?
 

Something Amyss

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Fiz_The_Toaster said:
I'm not saying he deserves one, but, I mean, how much more crap can be thrown at him for this before it starts getting ridiculous?
It seems he deserves a lot of crap, so it's hard to call it ridiculous.

Keep in mind I'm a big fan of KOA. I love the title, but the shit that happened behind the scenes? Wow.
 

Fiz_The_Toaster

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Zachary Amaranth said:
Fiz_The_Toaster said:
I'm not saying he deserves one, but, I mean, how much more crap can be thrown at him for this before it starts getting ridiculous?
It seems he deserves a lot of crap, so it's hard to call it ridiculous.

Keep in mind I'm a big fan of KOA. I love the title, but the shit that happened behind the scenes? Wow.
The shit behind the scenes was disgusting, and I really hope that kinda shit never happens again (although that might be wishful thinking on my part).

Well, I meant that after this recent ordeal, to be fair he had it coming since he did go after banks for some cash and now he has to fork it over so he should've known better, if anything else happens then I might call foul, no pun intended.
 

RaNDM G

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Too bad they shut down the company first before going after Schilling. It's the developers that deserve a break here.
 

Albino Boo

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Baresark said:
I guess that 38 Studios wasn't an LLC. Not a very smart way to do business. Or maybe it was and Citizens Bank is trying to juke the laws. But, they did declare bankruptcy. Meaning that if he had his personal name on anything, he is boned.
38 Studios was an LLC but its not uncommon for lenders to ask directors of LLCs for personal guarantees for loans to LLCs. When I started up my business 15 years ago the bank wanted my house as collateral for the loans that I needed to start up the company. Those loans are all long since paid off now but at times it was touch and go.

Personally I suspect the big problem with the whole thing is Schilling. To be a pro sportsman takes talent, drive and ambition. It appears that Schilling applied the drive and ambition but he doesn't have the talent to run a business. He took too many risks in what turns out to be the top of the market and had no plan B. Schilling is not alone in this but like all the others he is going to face the consequences.


RaNDM G said:
Too bad they shut down the company first before going after Schilling. It's the developers that deserve a break here.

They can't go after Schilling first. The guarantees only apply after the company defaults on payments. Its like that for reason, you don't want banks grabbing individuals assets because the company which they are standing guarantor for might default on payment.