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Redskins Sue Season Ticket Holders Who've Lost Their Jobs
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For Redskins Fans, Hard Luck Runs Into Team's Hard Line
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Since 1962, Pat Hill has been a Redskins fan. She still is even though they sued her and won when she couldn't make payments on a 10-yr contract for Redskins season tickets. She's a 73-year-old realtor and making $400 a month in social security after the housing crash. Hill on her couch, among a small sampling of her memorabilia, uses tissues to wipe the tears while she recalls the lawsuit. She's hoping Dan Snyder will listen to her story and her willingness to pay when the recession has passed. (Linda Davidson - The Washington Post)
Pat Hill, a season ticket holder since 1962, is pictured on far right with her husband and the son of the photographer. (Photo By Muhammed Khan - For The Washington Post)
Montgomery County businessman James Nesbitt is no longer a Redskins fan after getting stung by a contrac to "renew" his ticket seats. To make a long story short, he did not renew his contract and has proof that someone forged his signup sheet making him liable for a six year contract. He settled on a compromise but believes the organization has crooked business practices. James Nesbitt with the version of the renewal he submitted without an "X" in the square (top) and below, the one's the Redskins say he submitted with the "X" in a six year renewal. (Linda Davidson - The Washington Post)
It would be hard to find a more loyal fan of the Washington Redskins than real estate agent Pat Hill. She's had season tickets since the early 1960s, when her daughter danced in the halftime shows at the old D.C. Stadium, before it was renamed in memory of Robert F. Kennedy.
This Story
THE TOUGHEST TICKET IN TOWN Suing the Fans: For Redskins Fans, Hard Luck Runs Into Team's Hard Line
Redskins' Winning Record in Court
Q&A, Transcript: Redskins: Ticket Sales and Lawsuits
THE TOUGHEST TICKET IN TOWN Selling the Redskins on the Secondary Market: Redskins Fans Waited While Brokers Got Tickets
A View of FedEx Field
Interactive Graphic: Selling to Brokers, Suing Fans
Toughest Ticket in Town
Multiple Lives of a Ticket
Q&A, Transcript: Redskins: The Secondary Ticket Market and Season Tickets
Your Take: Redskins Waiting List and Ticket Brokers
Redskins Insider: Your Ticket Experience?
Your Take: Do You Believe Redskins' Response?
View All Items in This Story
View Only Top Items in This Story
In the hallway of her modest home south of Alexandria, the 72-year-old grandmother points out the burgundy-and-gold Redskins hook rug she made. In her bedroom, she shows off the pennants from two Redskins Super Bowl games she attended, and she opens a music box on her dresser that plays "Hail to the Redskins."
Now, Hill says, her beloved Redskins are forcing her into bankruptcy.
Last year, Hill's real estate sales were hit hard by the housing market crash, and she told the team that she could no longer afford her $5,300-a-year contract for two loge seats behind the end zone. Hill said she asked the Redskins to waive her contract for a year or two.
The sales office declined.
On Oct. 8, the Redskins sued Hill in Prince George's County Circuit Court for backing out of a 10-year ticket-renewal agreement after the first year. The team sought payment for every season through 2017, plus interest, attorneys' fees and court costs.
Hill couldn't afford a lawyer. She did not fight the lawsuit or even respond to it because, she said, she believes that the Bible says that it is morally wrong not to pay your debts. The team won a default judgment of $66,364.
"It really breaks my heart," Hill said, her voice cracking as the tears well and spill. "I don't even believe in bankruptcy.
"We are supposed to pay our bills. I ain't trying to get out of anything."
Hill is one of 125 season ticket holders who asked to be released from multiyear contracts and were sued by the Redskins in the past five years. The Washington Post interviewed about two dozen of them. Most said that they were victims of the economic downturn, having lost a job or experiencing some other financial hardship.
Redskins General Counsel David Donovan said the lawsuits are a last resort that involve a small percentage of the team's 20,000 annual premium seat contracts. He added that the team has accommodated people in hard-luck circumstances hundreds of times. He said he was unaware of Pat Hill's case.
"The Washington Redskins routinely works out payment plans and alternate arrangements with hundreds of ticket holders every year," Donovan said. "For every one we sue, I would guess we work out a deal with half a dozen."
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[link to www.washingtonpost.com]
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