RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia attorney general announced a major settlment Tuesday with the Washington Commanders, regarding returning hundreds of thousands of dollars collected as security deposits from season ticket holders.
Attorney General Jason Miyares and Pro-Football LLC, the current owner of the Washington Commanders, agreed to a $1.3 million settlment over the unreturned ticket deposits. So far, more than $600,000 in security deposits have been returned to nearly 475 season ticket holders due to the attorney general's investigation. The team also agreed to pay $700,000 in penalties and costs to resolve the investigation.
Since 1997, the Washington Commanders have obligated some season ticket holders to pay refundable security deposits, as revealed by Miyares' investigation. Despite being required to return these deposits within 30 days, the team kept most of the money, often adding further requirements for consumers requesting refunds.
In 2014, the team sent about 650 letters to former season ticket holders with unrefunded security deposits, promising to send unclaimed funds to state offices. However, they did not send any deposits to any state office, including Virginia’s Treasury Department, until at least 2023.
“I am pleased that we were able to reach a fair and reasonable agreement with the Washington Commanders that requires restitution of unlawfully retained security deposits to consumers,” Miyares wrote in a statement. “Our investigation found that the Commanders’ prior ownership unlawfully retained security deposits for years after they should have been returned to consumers. I thank the team’s current ownership for cooperating with this investigation, and for working towards rectifying the consumer harm we identified.”
The team previously settled a similar lawsuit with the D.C. attorney general's office in April 2023 and with Maryland's attorney general in November 2022.
Here are the terms of the agreement:
- The Washington Commanders will comply with the Virginia Consumer Protection Act to ensure future protections in consumer transactions.
- The Washington Commanders will undertake efforts to refund all remaining security deposits on dormant accounts (former season ticket holders) to consumers or remit them to state unclaimed property departments in a manner consistent with state law.
- For all security deposits presently on file that pertain to active accounts, the Washington Commanders agree to refund all such security deposits within thirty (30) days of the expiration of the contract, and also to send yearly reminders to consumers to remind them of their existing security deposits.
- The Washington Commanders agree to pay the Commonwealth $600,000 in civil penalties.
- The Washington Commanders agree to reimburse the Virginia Office of the Attorney General $100,000 for its attorneys’ fees and costs expended in investigating and bringing this action.
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