Two Detroit men are accused of forming fraudulent companies with the names of existing Oakland County businesses to ransom and harass the owners, according to a lawsuit filed by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office to try to dissolve the companies.

Eric Vander Ley and his brother, Daniel Vander Ley, both of Detroit, allegedly took advantage of companies that were either using a different name than their limited liability company was registered under — like Found Sound music store in Ferndale, whose LLC was My Turn Records Inc. — or that were not in good standing with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs because they did not file an annual statement for the company, according to the Attorney General’s office.

The Vander Leys “swept in to capture the business name” when companies were not in good standing or created an LLC with the assumed name of the business, according to the Attorney General’s office’s June 12 filing in Wayne County Circuit Court. The civil lawsuit seeks to dissolve 17 LLCs “procured by fraud” to claim false intellectual property rights in business names, according to the office of Attorney General Dana Nessel.

The Attorney General’s office declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Eric Vander Ley, whom the Attorney General’s office alleges in its filing is the main actor, said he was legally permitted by the Michigan Limited Liability Company Act to purchase those LLC names after the businesses were no longer in good standing with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs or LARA.

“I created the companies because I needed companies in order to conduct my business, and those names were available,” Vander Ley said, though he declined to say what his businesses with those LLC names are. “I chose to name my new entities that I then created in the same name as companies that were not in good standing because I can, because the law permits me to do so.”

Vander Ley denied harassing or trying to ransom money for the business names.

“I have not harassed anybody about anything. I deny that. I absolutely deny that I engaged in any harassing behavior,” he said. “For them to claim that my business is not a legitimate business simply because it shows the name of companies that are dissolved or not in good standing, it’s wrong.”

When asked why he used the names of existing businesses instead of creating his own name, Vander Ley said “because I can.”

“Looking back, this has been an ongoing thing that has drained my personal happiness,” Vander Ley said. “It’s a very good question, why I would choose to do that and engage in litigation. I’m headed off to law school and I don’t know. I wanted to test my hand at the law to see if I was any good at it. … It’s not part of my calculation, the costs associated to me or anyone else. It was a matter of law that I believe I was right on.”

Nessel’s office outlines arguments

Michigan’s LLC law provides the attorney general the power to bring an action to dissolve a LLC that has procured its organization through fraud or has repeatedly and willfully conducted business in an unlawful manner, according to the attorney general’s filing.

Michigan’s LLC law “is not intended for an individual to capture and claim names used by legitimate businesses and then hold them for ransom and harass the business owners in an attempt to obtain money from them under false claims of ‘copyright infringement’ or other interference with business interests,” Assistant Attorney General Michael Hill wrote in the filing.

Vander Ley took over the names of boutique Bags and Beads, Detroit Bubble Tea Company, Como’s Restaurant, Detroit Martial Arts Institute, Got Pho and Tin Can Cocktails when they were not in good standing, Hill wrote. In other cases, where a company’s LLC was different than its operating name, Vander Ley created LLCs using the operating name of the business.

Vander Ley said his initial targets were businesses that he believed were violating the Michigan Liquor Control Commission code, by selling or manufacturing alcohol without a valid license. The law says if a business is dissolved or not in good standing with the state, they cannot sell or allow the consumption of alcohol on their premises until they return back to good standing.

The rest of the businesses he took over the LLC name for were “just names I found that were in Ferndale that I found that were also available,” Vander Ley said.

“I chose to make those company names my own in order to conduct business in those names,” he said.

The Attorney General’s office said Vander Ley engaged in activities of a common law nuisance.

“Vander Ley’s actions undermine the livelihood of small businesses, causing economic harm and job loss in the community,” Hill wrote. The public nuisance created by Eric Vander Ley’s actions is substantial and unreasonable. It has caused and continues to cause significant harm to the community, and the damage inflicted outweighs any offsetting benefits.”

The biggest targets

The two businesses the Vander Leys targeted the most were the Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop and Urbanrest Brewing Company, both of Ferndale. Vander Ley has filed lawsuits against both companies, one for copyright infringement and one for alleged violation of the liquor law.

“Plaintiff, Eric Vander Ley (“Vander Ley”) has been on a crusade to harass businesses in and around Oakland County,” Urbanrest’s attorneys wrote in a response to Vander Ley’s January lawsuit and request for a preliminary injunction to make Urbanrest stop service. “Granting this preliminary injunction would provide Vander Ley with the blueprint to continue his abhorrent harassing behavior with the other entities whose business names he has wrongfully obtained.”

Urbanrest owner Zachary Typinski and Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop owner Jon Hughes declined to comment due to the pending litigation.

The issues began when Hughes tried to provide Eric Vander Ley with a 1099 tax form after he worked at the bike shop in summer 2022, according to Hughes’ response to Vander Ley’s attempt to dismiss a personal protection order against him. Vander Ley was not a good worker and was let go by the end of summer, according to the filing. Vander Ley refused to accept the tax form, then allegedly began harassing and stalking Hughes, and began to represent himself as the owner of the bike shop.

The personal protection order was granted last September for harassing and threatening behaviors by Vander Ley.

Hughes’ corporation for the bike shop had been dissolved in 2020 by LARA because he had not filed his annual report. He did not find this out until he tried to reregister the name and could not, because Daniel Vander Ley filed the articles of incorporation with LARA for the bike shop in August 2023, using the name “Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop.”

Hughes had to change the shop name to the Original Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop to obtain good standing.

Vander Ley sent Hughes a cease and desist letter in August 2024 to order Hughes to stop using the name “Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop.” He demanded Hughes sign and return an enclosed agreement, which required Hughes to pay him $2,500 “in lieu of litigation,” according to the Attorney General’s office’s filing. He also started contacting business connections and threatening them with lawsuits, in one case emailing a business development manager for Jamis Bikes and demanding he stop doing business with Hughes.

“Respondent’s harassment has caused Petitioner (Hughes) significant distress. Petitioner has had to spend time reassuring vendors and business contracts, explaining the Respondent’s false claims and addressing questions that arose due to Respondent’s interference,” Hughes’ attorney wrote in a response to Vander Ley’s attempt to dismiss the PPO. “Petitioner’s livelihood is at stake, as he relies on the success of his business to support his wife and one-year-old child.”

Vander Ley said no such agreement existed, and he never demanded money from Hughes.

Vander Ley did sue the bike shop in 2024, arguing the name was his, but Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Victoria Valentine dismissed the lawsuit, noting Vander Ley did not cite specific allegations in his complaint.

Vander Ley told The News he owns and operates a bike shop that provides repair services to the bicycle community in Oakland County, though Valentine said in an order in the lawsuit that there was no evidence presented to show this.

Urbanrest battle

Vander Ley also took over the LLC for Urbanrest Brewing Company after it fell in bad standing with LARA in March 2023.

“You certainly got their attention with the importance of maintaining LARA filings,” attorney Leigh Moss wrote in an email to Vander Ley in November 2024. “It saddens them to lose their original business name with LARA. They are making one last good-faith effort to purchase the entity name back from you.”

When Moss tried to offer Vander Ley $750 and later $1,000 to release the name of the LLC, Vander Ley said he required $500 an hour, paid in advance, to even speak to them about the issue, according to emails between Moss and Vander Ley included in civil filings.

Vander Ley told The News that he doesn’t negotiate for free, and he would need to have a lawyer present at the meeting, despite him representing himself in all of his legal battles.

When Typinski refused to pay, Vander Ley began harassing him and interfering with the brewery’s operations, causing Typinski to become fearful for his and his staff’s safety, according to the AG’s lawsuit. Vander Ley denied harassing anyone.

The Ferndale Police Department contacted Typinski in October, warning him Vander Ley had tried to file complaints against his business and had harassed several other Ferndale business owners, according to the Attorney General’s offfice’s lawsuit. Ferndale Police did not respond for comment.

In January, Vander Ley came in, demanding to see the brewery’s liquor license. He was rude to staff and customers and threatened to break into the office and get the liquor license himself, which prompted Typinski to contact police, according to the attorney general’s lawsuit. Vander Ley later filed a complaint in Oakland County for liquor license violations, alleging they sold liquor without a valid license. That lawsuit remains pending.

In September, Eric Vander Ley submitted 395 articles of organization to LARA to form LLCs using the same or substantially similar names of businesses across Michigan. LARA rejected all of them in October, so Vander Ley submitted 533 certificates of assumed name for use under 16 of the LLCs he previously organized with LARA. Each was the same or substantially similar to businesses or individuals across Michigan. LARA rejected all of this in November.

“Each of the Vander Ley Companies was formed not to engage in lawful activities (a practical impossibility for two individuals given the number of companies formed) but instead to capture the names of legitimate businesses in Michigan to harass the business owners and make false legal claims of copyright infringement or other interference with business relationships to obtain money from the owners of the legitimate businesses; in the same fashion as Eric Vander Ley and Daniel Vander Ley did with Urbanrest Brewing Company and the Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop,” Hill wrote.