Creditors to FairPoint: Pay Us Our Money

Written by Kelly
November 17, 2009

Dozens of companies, from a Vermont sheriff to traffic control specialists, are hitting up FairPoint for money they say the bankrupt RLEC never paid for services performed.

FairPoint Communications creditors are clamoring to collect their share of the insolvent RLEC’s money. The embattled service provider has bounced at least one check – with a Vermont sheriff’s office, no less – and allegedly stiffed suppliers, from staffing agencies to on-premises, third-party technical support, out of more than $652,000 total.

The documents are pouring in as the industry waits for FairPoint to submit its in-depth reorganization plan to the bankruptcy court; that’s slated to happen no later than Dec. 10.

Meanwhile, by Nov. 12, the number of FairPoint claimant filings had risen to 18; the lowest request seeks payment of $78.80 and the highest asks for $221,736.61. The latter claim comes from United Information Technologies, which specializes in logistics such as staffing, training and project management. The company says FairPoint has not paid for services including consultants’ work and expenses.

Select Security Inc., a traffic-control firm based in Maine, also is on the prowl for money owed. The company wants $87,176.53 from FairPoint for directing and controlling traffic while FairPoint employees tackled projects near roads.

The Chittenden County Sheriff’s Office in Vermont, too, is after FairPoint for payment due on traffic-control services. The agency supplies deputies who manage vehicle traffic in areas where FairPoint technicians are working.

“We are a small sheriff’s office and these services are all performed on a contractual basis and those contracts by law have to be self-sustaining here in Vermont,” Sheriff Kevin McLaughlin said in the agency’s Nov. 3 claim.

FairPoint appears to have tried to make good on at least part of the $18,814.64 it owes Chittenden County. But a $6,384.20 check bounced on Oct. 23 and the sheriff’s office then had to pay $20 for the bad payment. McLaughlin said losing out on the money from FairPoint “will have a severe impact on our small agency.”

There’s more than one state entity trying to wring money out of FairPoint’s coffers. For example, the Gasden County Tax Collector in Florida says FairPoint owes $30,609.54 in real estate taxes. The Greeley County Treasurer in Kansas makes the same claim, except to the tune of $87,998.43.

Finally, R.H. White Construction Co. is another high-dollar creditor going after FairPoint. R.H. White Construction serves as a construction contractor for utilities in New England. It has, for instance, supplied people such as foremen and laborers to FairPoint, and purchased, up front, materials such as concrete, grass seed and conduits for the FairPoint jobs. The Massachusetts-based company is trying to recover $178,370.61 from FairPoint.

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