Melodi Sherman aka MacAllister Stone appears to be on shaky legal
ground concerning her use of an unregistered DBA for business purposes.
Silly me, I assumed Absolute Write was properly registered. You know
what they say about making assumptions?
Apparently, when Melodi purchased Absolute Write, the registration moved from New York to Washington. Absolute Write didn't come up in previous database queries because all three names were registered under the same umbrella: MacAllister Stone. If you follow the link to the Department of Revenue and check the UBI, you'll find the business license for MacAllister Stone that expired in 2009.
Further digging reveals Melodi has been operating outside the bounds of legal business for a number of years. An astute reader sent me information on Snohomish Pasture, a boarding facility for horses, run by Melodi and Lisa Spangenberg. The Blogger site has been set to private, but the Tumblr site is still available. This screen grab from the Google cache shows they are definitely charging people for services.
A search through the Washington business licensing service shows no results for Snohomish Pasture, Snohomish Farrier, or Snohomish County Farrier, all names that Melodi uses for her business.
Not surprisingly, Washington has a law against this. Any time you do business under a name besides your full legal name, you're required to have a business license.
What's it called if you don't have the proper license?
Absolute Write is most definitely an operating business, with classes,
monetized ads, all sorts of fun money-making ventures. Based on the
Tumblr site, Snohomish Pasture/Farrier/what-have-you is operating as
well. If you feel so inclined, pay a visit to the Washington State Department of Revenue or the IRS
and file a report of suspected fraud. The report can be about Absolute
Write, Snohomish Pasture/Farrier, MacAllister Stone, or all of the
above, because none of them appear to be legally registered at the
moment. All reports can be filed anonymously.
Apparently, when Melodi purchased Absolute Write, the registration moved from New York to Washington. Absolute Write didn't come up in previous database queries because all three names were registered under the same umbrella: MacAllister Stone. If you follow the link to the Department of Revenue and check the UBI, you'll find the business license for MacAllister Stone that expired in 2009.
Further digging reveals Melodi has been operating outside the bounds of legal business for a number of years. An astute reader sent me information on Snohomish Pasture, a boarding facility for horses, run by Melodi and Lisa Spangenberg. The Blogger site has been set to private, but the Tumblr site is still available. This screen grab from the Google cache shows they are definitely charging people for services.
A search through the Washington business licensing service shows no results for Snohomish Pasture, Snohomish Farrier, or Snohomish County Farrier, all names that Melodi uses for her business.
Not surprisingly, Washington has a law against this. Any time you do business under a name besides your full legal name, you're required to have a business license.
What's it called if you don't have the proper license?
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