Support The Forte Family Fight for Justice

Hola, we are Chance and Binta Forte. As some of you know, we are the folks behind Electric Bronco and Golden Baby in Playa Flamingo, Costa Rica. We came down here to chase a dream and start a little restaurant and storefront for our family. We gave it a go, but circumstances with our landlord and some bad news about a close family member cut our time here short.

When we told our business landlord that we would be closing, she became very angry and immediately changed the locks to block access to our belongings and equipment and had us trespassed from the premises. The landlord then began to remove our equipment, including our custom-built bar, stove, commercial fridge, and utility sink, to name a few, and hid them on the property. We have spent weeks providing photos, receipts, documents, and statements to prove these things belong to us. We have had buyers arrive with the intention of purchasing our equipment only to have her refuse to open the door. The police and courts have been involved for weeks now, and the judgment has gone in our favor.

Unfortunately, we have come back to the property with our judgment and the police 7 times, but she is in hiding to wait us out. We intended to leave at the beginning of August but were not able to, as we need to sell our equipment. This process has kept us here and exhausted all of our resources. Costa Rica's version of the FBI, the OIJ, is now tasked with locating her, but as most people know, nothing moves quickly here.

We are asking for the support of the community, our friends, and family to see this through. We have done everything by the book and the courts have been great, but the process has drained us mentally, financially, and spiritually. We have had violence threatened against us as well as the embarrassment of standing out in front of our own business with the police on several occasions. Maybe we should have cut our losses and left, but we didn't and here we are.

We continue to offer food "to-go" from our house in Surfside to try and support our family during this immensely stressful situation, but it has been very slow. Times are hard right now for everyone, but if you can, please help us fight the good fight. Thank you to everyone who has supported us and continues to support us. Bullies win too often in this world.

***Update*** We have gone back to the courts in Santa Cruz (9/16/24) and were told that our case is not a priority and that the OIJ will go and look for her when it is convenient for them. There is zero concern about how we are unable to get home from the theft of our things. ANY help anyone wants to give to us would be immensely helpful. This has been a pretty humiliating and humbling experience, and we just want it to be over. Thank you to everyone who has shared kind words and support to us!