Past due checks have not been cleared

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Despite another promise, employees at My Town Media spent Friday afternoon waiting for a paycheck which did not come. My Town Media’s financial managers say the checks are written, but not cleared for release.

The following was posted on Christian Hunter’s blog on Thursday:

“Dear current and former My Town Media employees,

Well, at this point I'm just speechless. Our insurance loss claim was processed yesterday, deposited, cleared, and checks were written to approximately 50 of you who came by to pick them up. To everyone's great frustration, a digit was dropped in the transcription of the routing and account numbers when the check was imported, and this caused all of the checks to be, essentially, invalid.

Those who've been working so hard at reconciling and managing the company, as well as this payroll run, are very upset, as I'm sure you are. It is something I take responsibility for, as I should have understood that a small group can only work so hard and get so little sleep before they start to become less effective. That manifested in one small digit being dropped.

So, once again, checks will be printed out (with all their digits) in the morning for distribution in the afternoon. I think it will be earlier than yesterday's distribution, but I'm not the one who's got to rerun it. I'll make sure there is something to eat and cold drinks (for what it's worth) once you get down there (I believe it'll be the same place, but I'll confirm tomorrow).

We're almost through this folks. See you tomorrow.

Thank you,”

But as of 5pm, employees had received no update, no food or drinks, and certainly no paycheck.

In a recent blog, Hunter says MTM’s financial problems stem from flooding problems in November 2009 which forced them to shutdown and significantly damaged revenue.

However, a lawsuit for denial of overtime compensation was filed against Hunter and his company, then named Second Meta, two months earlier in September.

Nalle Apartments were also awarded a default judgment in the amount of $2000 when Hunter failed to pay rent on an apartment he placed under Second Meta’s name. Putting the business name on the lease would have allowed him to pay using business funds.