California Man Sues To Avoid Paying Gambling Debts
To avoid paying his gambling debts, a Californian allegedly suffering from “gambling addictions” has asked a federal district court to declare that state law and public policy bar two prominent Las Vegas casinos from collecting the debts. See Horaney v. MGM Grand Hotel, LLC, Case No. SA-CV05-0075-AHS (C.D.Cal. Jan. 24, 2005).
The plaintiff, Shibley Horaney, alleges that he began gambling in 1995 when representatives of the MGM Grand and Mirage casinos used telephone and mail marketing to offer him loans and lines of credit for gambling. He claims the casinos contacted him an “upwards of 20 to 30 times a year” to offer “free transportation, hotel and lodging” so he could gamble at their Las Vegas properties.
Horaney alleges that between 1995 and 2002 he spent $4 million at the MGM Grand and more than $1 million at the Mirage. Based on this level of gambling activity, Horaney asserts that he “suffered from gambling addictions, recognized by the American Psychiatric Association.”
In 2002 and 2003, Horaney claims that despite his existing debts and “gambling addictions,” the casinos continued to offer him loans and lines of credit, which he accepted. In July 2003, he borrowed and lost $295,000 at the MGM Grand and, later that year, borrowed and lost $180,000 at the Mirage.
Consequently, Horaney received demand letters from both the MGM Grand and the Mirage seeking repayment of the more than $500,000 in loans from that year. In response, Horaney filed the lawsuit.
Horaney’s complaint seeks neither monetary damages nor injunctive relief: only a declaratory judgment that 1) he owes nothing because the casinos used illegal marketing practices to induce him to gamble, and 2) any attempts to collect on his gambling debts violate California law and public policy.
In support of his claims, Horaney alleges that he is the victim of an unlawful scheme by the casinos to target their marketing toward California residents, because the casinos “know [California residents] are particularly susceptible to gambling addiction.” Horaney implores the court to intervene and protect him and other Californians from “such predatory conduct by businesses in Nevada.”
California courts have not decided yet whether casinos have a duty to identify or exclude compulsive gamblers from their marketing or otherwise protect them from suffering gambling losses.
