User:Steevven1/sandbox/TutoringZone

TutoringZone was a tutoring company in Gainesville, Florida, offering supplementary content covering course material for University of Florida and Florida State University classes. The company's primary product offerings were large group review sessions, in which tutors covered materials for upcoming exams while students followed along in premade study packets. Students were able to attend review sessions in person or to watch them in the form of streaming video online. The company ceased operation in 2017 following a court order related to fraud charges against its owner, Matthew Hintze.

History
From 2002 to 2011, TutoringZone was owned jointly by Matthew Hintze and a partner. Hintze and his business partner, both having academic backgrounds in business and finance, started the company in what they saw as a largely untapped market for college-level tutoring services. In 2011, Hintze purchased his partner's share of the company. His partner started his own, competing company shortly thereafter, and hired more than half of TutoringZone's full-time tutors at the time. TutoringZone's competition gained on it in the Gainesville market until January 2017, when TutoringZone ceased operation following a court order relating to fraud changes against Matthew Hintze.

Since the company's legal troubles, a new tutoring company by the name of "Skoolers Tutoring Center" has opened, employing several former TutoringZone tutors, including Hintze. For a brief period, the TutoringZone website referred students to the new center. Many former TutoringZone customers see this as a straightforward continuation of the business under a new name, as evidenced by student perception: Ashley Jacobs, a University of Florida student, stated in a 2017 interview with The Independent Florida Alligator that, “It’s all the same tutors. It’s the same exact packets. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I think it’s the same company.”

Legal troubles and closure
In 2011, Matthew Hintze borrowed $550,000 from four investors in order to purchase his partner's position in the company. Unable to pay these investors back, Hintze filed for personal bankruptcy in 2012 while also shifting TutoringZone's physical and intellectual property to a new company, legally known as "Tutoring Zone II, LLC," created by investor Chris James. This new legal entity continued to operate under the TutoringZone name with the same business model as the original, but with Hintze as an employee. The investors who lent Hintze the money for the 2011 buyout subsequently sued to prevent Hintze from gaining bankruptcy protection. In 2016, after a multi-year legal battle, Hintze and his wife were barred by a Florida court from filing bankruptcy. In January 2017, the court ruled that Hintze committed fraud and owed investors at least $443,500, and TutoringZone was ordered to close.