LTH Forum Caught Up in Financial Dispute, May be Sold

By Anthony Todd in Food on Jun 1, 2011 8:20PM

According to an email received by Chicagoist on Wednesday afternoon, the founder and owner of the popular local online food resource LTHForum, Gary Wiviott, may be forced to sell his interest in the site as part of a bankruptcy proceeding. Wiviott told us that LTH has never made any money and that he has run the site out of his personal funds.

Another co-founder of LTH, Peter Daane, filed suit against Wiviott in 2009 after giving Wiviott a personal loan. Wiviott told us that he had "incorporated LTH forum 6 years ago, just so that if someone sued the site, I wouldn't be in trouble." During the bankruptcy proceeding, however, this meant that LTHForum was considered one of Wiviott's assets, and his interest in the site will go up for sale on June 29.

Here's hoping this legal dispute doesn't destroy the site, which has been a mainstay of the Chicago food community for years. If anyone wants to buy the site (especially as a labor of foodie love), contact Daane at pdanne@yahoo.com. Daane had not responded to a request for comment at post time, but told Time Out Chicago that ""I hope somebody on the website bids a whole bunch of money for it, I get paid back, I pay off all my lawyers...and I'm done." The opening bid, which has already been placed by a "founding member," according to Daane, is $40,000.