State records show the funeral home had its articles of incorporation/certificate of authority canceled in April 2009 for failure to pay franchise taxes. Gary Gudmundson, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Taxation, said Monday those documents remain canceled.
“They are not licensed to do business in the state,” he said. “The reason we send requests for cancellation to the Secretary of State, its part of our routine operation where we will scan our systems and look for corporations and business entities that have not filed or paid taxes. If that’s the case and we’ve not had a response from them, then we will send this request for cancellation to the Secretary of State, who then complies with that request.”
Gudmundson, citing confidentiality laws, declined to reveal how much money the funeral home owes. In a letter dated April 7, 2009, former Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said the funeral home “failed to file necessary corporate franchise tax reports or pay any such taxes with the time prescribed by law.”
“(The) license to do business has been canceled until the total obligation ... is cleared up,” Gudmundson said.
The funeral home was open for business Monday. Operator Scherrie McLin did not return numerous phone calls.
Her sister, former Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin, is no longer involved in the business.
The letter also stated that the Department of Taxation will inform the funeral home of the required reports and taxes that need to be filed and paid. Once the proper reports have been filed and the fees and taxes are paid, then the department will issue a D-3 Certificate of Reinstatement. Once the secretary of state has the certificate, it will begin the process of reinstatement.
Valita Jordan of Dayton cited the business license cancellation in her Jan. 11 lawsuit against the funeral home. Jordan maintains the funeral home and owner/manager Scherrie McLin mismanaged the funeral of her father, Virgil Kennedy.
The lawsuit alleges that Jordan’s family went to the funeral home to view her father’s body on Nov. 12. When the family arrived, the man’s arm was sticking up in the air and a white substance was visible on his mouth, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit also maintains that Scherrie McLin “has consistently maintained a pattern of inefficiency and continually stalled and evaded its legal obligations to Jordan, which constitutes unconscionable acts and practices in violation of the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act.”
Meanwhile, the judge’s padlocking order to force payment of nearly $6,600 in principal and interest to TBF Financial LLC had not been carried out while the sheriff’s office seeks clarification.
On Monday, the sheriff’s office sought a review of the order by a county judge. The sheriff’s office wants to see if there should be stipulations in place due to the fact that the business in question is a funeral home. Montgomery County sheriff’s Chief Deputy Scott Landis said the sheriff’s office received the Jan. 18 padlocking order on Friday, Jan. 21.
This is the second padlock order that the Montgomery County court has granted in the TBF lawsuit. The first padlock order was granted last February. TBF started receiving payment from the funeral home, but the balance due for the original December 2009 judgment was never paid, according to TBF’s attorney Scott Liberman and court records. Liberman then sought a second padlocking order.
Even though the state canceled the home’s license in 2009, the home has arranged or handled at least five funerals since Jan. 1, according to obituary notices the funeral home placed with the Dayton Daily News.
A receptionist at the funeral home Monday said it was still open for business.
Jennifer Baugess, compliance administrative assistant at the state Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors, said Scherrie McLin holds a valid funeral director’s license, which allows her to manage one funeral home and work as a funeral director selling funeral goods and arranging services.
If a funeral home changes ownership, the home would need a new funeral director’s license. There has been no application for a new license for the McLin Funeral Home Inc., Baugess said.
It was unclear what penalty the funeral home might face for operating without authority to do so. It was also unclear Monday how many funerals McLin Funeral Home has handled since April 2009.
About the Author