John Chiv: Carter divorce gets nasty and personal with allegations including improper use of business funds and who gets control of businesses

Feb 26, 2024

Carter divorce gets nasty and personal with allegations including improper use of business funds and who gets control of businesses

(Mark and Sherri Carter promo image from The Bourbon Road)

Getting divorced is not news or I would have reported on the Gregg Foster and Emily Jacobs case.

Mark and Sherri Carter's divorce case has information that impacts the community, their customers and other businesses. Sheri Carter is represented by Ms. Deborah Bull of Santa Rosa. Mark Carter by local family law attorney and Judge Gregory Kreis endorser Mr. Rory Hanson.

Sherri Carter is asking for temporary emergency control of Carter Co LLC and Kentucky Spirit Bottling LLC. Sheri Carter accuses Mark Carter of draining mone from their corporate accounts without notice or consent, demanding arbitration in Kentucky in an attempt to dissolve or sell "the businesses outside of the divorce process" and transferring $382,000 into a personal account.

Mark Carter claims Sherri Carter utilizes company credit cards for personal expenses and withdraws large amounts of corporate funds without his approval.

There was a hearing on 2/22/24.

There is a request for order hearing on property control, dismiss AAA arbitration, tax payments scheduled for 2/29.

I have met and communicated with Mark but that was a few years ago. Never met Sherri. I have stayed at the Carter House who briefly advertised with me. That brief advertising worked very well for them. That was because they had excellent managers and employees who understood how to market the image. I am glad now I did not consult Mark or Sheri. Once they let their good employees and managers go, even before this court case, I saw the impact on their social media, marketing and business.

I was told that they got no results from Lost Coast Outpost or North Coast Journal. Something others have told me too about both these outlets and about the Times Standard. People in a small county are afraid to say this openly and on record because they don't want to alienate the Humboldt Connected that own, fund or support other local media. I mention this because enabling or spending money when you don't get results is poor economics. I can think of several examples where when I did not hear back from potential advertisers including well established local businesses and then found out later they were not financially doing well despite appearances. Sometimes it is through the informal grapevine in the community; sometimes through court cases. In every case, it is poor management and nepotism and another Humboldt offspring riding on daddy's coattails.

In a previous post in 2021 when I first reported about the Carter House being for sale, I wrote, "They closed the restaurant. Had no plans to reopen it. Carter House has gone through at least three managers in the last two years. The managers are not the problem. High turnover usually reflects poor decisions by the owners and Carter House isn't the only one in Humboldt with that problem. This sale comes as no surprise."

In 2021, the reason for putting up Carter House for sale in the listing was "focusing on other ventures."

The last related post I did was in 2022 about Carter House being for sale or off market. It was still owned by the Carters when I checked with the receptionist last year.

A search for Mark Carter in the Humboldt Superior Court system comes up with 16 searches. There are no middle names listed in some cases as usual with the inconsistent filings in Humboldt Superior Court. The two bank cases with a default judgement are at the same time as the divorce case so readers can draw whatever conclusions they want or go check out the cases on their own.