Liquidation company says Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe tactics leading them to bankruptcy

STATELINE, Nev. - As the Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe announced a major renovation of its 539-room hotel and 25,000-square-foot casino on the Lake Tahoe South Shore, a Los Angeles-based liquidation company is calling foul.

Luxury 4 Less owner Tracy Hunt said she was hired to liquidate the furniture in the rooms that were being renovated, along with 125 slot machines. Hunt said that, after working with Golden Nugget management for over three weeks, she was sent an approval letter to pick up the furniture plus a Nevada Gaming Board approval letter to remove the slot machines.

Hunt said their liquidation agreement started with the 210 room of the Sunset Tower, the back portion of the property that has gone through several name and ownership changes starting with the Sahara, followed by the High Sierra, Horizon, and Hard Rock before becoming the Golden Nugget in 2023.

"We agreed to cover the full cost of liquidation and recoup our expenses and profits through the sale of the furniture and inventory being removed," said Hunt.

Hunt and her staff arrived at the Golden Nugget this past spring to find that another company had come in and removed many rooms and most of the working slot machines.

"After selling over 120 rooms of furniture, and spending over $14,000 of our own funds, we arrived at the Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe to remove the inventory and were BLIND-SIDED with an outrageous bait and switch in which they had 'allegedly' sold 480 rooms from our contract agreement to a different liquidation company," said Hunt.

"To add insult to injury, even though the slot machines had been directly registered to our company, the hotel had also sold and/or removed a portion of the slot machines stating they removed the machines because 'they wanted to make sure they weren’t giving away a bunch of money'," added Hunt.

After they arrived to retrieve the room contents and slot machines, only to find them given to another company "who would pay them," Hunt said she was offered 50 rooms and some broken slots machines. This wouldn't work for Hunt due to her having clients for the original number of rooms.

Hunt explained the way liquidation companies work is they presell items they are removing to cover the costs of transport. She said they are now facing lawsuits and bankruptcy because of what happened.

"We have contacted Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe to provide an amicable solution, but they have ignored us for three months," said Hunt.

Hunt and some family and friends attempted to conduct a protest in front of the Golden Nugget on July 4, trying to get the attention of the casino resort and the public. They did get attention, but it was the Douglas County Sheriff's Office that arrived. The deputy told them they had the right to protest, and didn't make them leave.

"Golden Nugget denies any wrongdoing," said Jason Sides, Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe general manager. "As part of a standard RFP (request for proposal) process, we reached out to several companies, including Tracy Hunt, for a proposal on the liquidation job at Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe. Ms. Hunt did not fulfill the necessary prerequisites including providing proof of adequate insurance and a valid Tax ID. Because of this, we never entered a contract with Ms. Hunt and selected another candidate for the job. Unfortunately, this is simply a business misunderstanding on the part of Ms. Hunt."

Hunt said she did provide the insurance document and was never asked for a Tax ID number. South Now Now received copies of written communication between Hunt and the Golden Nugget/Landry's legal counsel. Counsel asked for receipts of her expenses to travel to Lake Tahoe to retrieve the furniture, televisions and slot machines, and offered her a $5,000 settlement for her inconvenience.

Hunt vehemently denies the Golden Nugget's statements and will be filing a lawsuit as well as a formal complaint with the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
She states she has over 35 documents in support of her claim. She says being qualified was "never an issue" and can easily be refuted with documents and photographs proving she and her workers had commenced work and were directly given property access by Nugget Management.

When asked if they had a follow-up reply to Hunt's comments, the Golden Nugget spokesperson said they had no further comment and would be it, for now.