The Washington Commanders now have one legal issue beyond them, even if Dan Snyder still remains the organization’s owner — for now.
The Commanders have reached a settlement after being sued for cheating ticket holders/residents of the District of Columbia of security deposit funds. D.C. attorney general Brian Schwalb announced this Monday morning that the Commanders will pay more than $625,00o to resolve those claims.
The Commanders will return over $200,000 to impacted residents and pay a $425,000 penalty to the District as part of the settlement, according to WUSA-9. The Commanders have 30 days to make the payment to D.C. and its residents.
“Rather than being transparent and upfront in their ticket sale practices, the Commanders unlawfully took advantage of their fan base, holding on to security deposits instead of returning them,” Schwalb said in a statement via Pro Football Talk. “Under this settlement agreement, our office will maintain strict oversight over the Commanders to ensure all necessary steps are taken to reimburse fans for the refunds they are entitled to. Our office takes seriously the obligation to enforce DC consumer protection laws by holding accountable anyone that tries to exploit District consumers.”
This has been an ongoing investigation since November, as the District of Columbia sued the Commanders for bilking ticket holders out hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Commanders allegedly sold premium seating tickets to fans since 1996 with some of those tickets requiring a substantial security deposit. Those deposits were promised to be refunded within 30 days of the contract’s expiration, according to the lawsuit, but obviously, they were never paid back.
While the Commanders still vehemently deny these allegations, the organization is another step in the direction of ridding itself of Snyder, and will ultimately have to pay the price for the horrible claims made against it.