topic Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help in Rebuilding Your Credit

MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

JonGP3 — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:42:33 GMT

Hello All

I'd like any help with my situation.

Back in June 2005 I signed a contract with a company called MBF Leasing for a Check Reader for my business. After quickly learning that this was a complete scam because known fraudulant checks were passing as cleared I called the company to inquire as to why this was happening. They quickly claimed this wasn't there fault. I then requested to cancel the service. I was told that I would have to buy the lease out in Full as the contract stated I could not cancel for any reason.The term was 48 months, I don't have the monthly payment amount with me yet. I have requested this info. They claim I owe $4058 on the account.

I returned the equiptment and stopped payments on July 25, 2005.

Over the years I continued to see Inquires on my CR from MBF Leasing

They are reporting on 1 report (Experian) currently.

The representative claims I agreed to repay on March 25, 2006, although no payments were sent.

Date of Account opening: June 5, 2005

Date of Last Payment: July 25, 2005 (this should be the date of last activity)

As per the "lease agreement" which i was never showed, they say the Governing Law is in the State of New York, I live in Virginia however the contract was made when I lived in Texas.

The SOL in New York is 6 years, so would i be correct in assuming that the SOL has run out as of July, 25 2011? Is there anyway this was extended? The representative claims the SOL in New York is 7 Years, even if that is the case that would be July 25, 2012?

They have all my current information now, I have requested a Debt Valdation today. They finially found my current address and sent me a "Final Demand" letter. I have not received anything from them since 2006.

My only worry is at this point if they do summon me to court over this, will i get adaqute notice? I live in Virginia I would be happy to drive up for the court date and claim SOL to have this dropped. I just hope i'm made aware of when this may happen? Will they send a Uniformed Officer to my door for the summons?

Thank you in advance

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

llecs — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:16:46 GMT

Do you still have a copy of the lease agreement? If so, I'd read through it to see what it says about performance and what it said about any bad check you had ran through. I'd argue, though it is too late now, that you could have sued them for those bad checks.

IIRC, NY's SOL is 6 yrs. It isn't 7 for sure. The CRTP is 7-7.5 yrs, so they can still report, but they cannot sue.

I don't know NY law. In some states, certain actions can reset SOL like a promise to pay (though it is usually written), a payment, or even a written acknowledgment of the debt. You'd have to scour NY's laws to see what can reset the SOL. These are uncommon and most states don't have these provisions.

I just read further in your post.....VA SOL applies, though that is 6 yrs too for written contracts. Speaking as a fellow Virginian, IIRC, the only thing that can reset the SOL is if you make a written promise to pay. Payments here will not reset SOL.

If there is no signed lease agreement, how did you get the equipment? Was this done online? If so, I bet there was one of these checkboxes we all check and never read the link. I bet that was the lease agreement.

DVs can only go to CAs, so that won't work. Your only course of action with them is to either ignore it or to send a PFD if you agree with them. Or if you disagree, put a little heat on them with regards to business practices (via the BBB, FTC, VA's consumer protection division, etc.), but you are several years removed from having bad checks slip by. It would be hard to argue that. They would question why you waited so long.

They have to serve you in VA. You are past SOL. They can still try to sue here in VA but your defense is that SOL expired. If served, it would usually be by a sheriff's officer, though any person or company can become a process server.

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

GregB — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:10:52 GMT

MBF Leasing is a known SCAM, but so are most of the flaky CC and check processors. They are notorious for claiming that you signed a lease, etc.

MANY people claim that they didn't sign or initial each page of the "lease".

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

llecs — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:13:54 GMT

fraudsters everywhere.

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

JonGP3 — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:50:58 GMT

The documents for the "lease" have my signature but I was only shown 1 page of the lease, the remaining 3 pages were never shown to me outlining all the hidden disclaimers. I don't care about the bad checks at this point I was able to collect through other means.

The contract I found online from them states:

18. GOVERNING LAW.
THIS LEASE AND ANY GUARANTY HEREOF SHALL BE INTERPRETED AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH, AND GOVERNED BY, THE INTERNAL LAWS OF THE STATE AND CITY OF NEW YORK.

Which in my mind means they use NY laws and can sue me in the state of NY, at least that how they made it sound. I've asked for a DV, he complied and it's in the mail, but i have a feeling they'll just send me the signed "lease" with the additional pages i never saw with it.

My only fear at this point is if something has reset the DOFA thus increasing the SOL, the last contact I had them them, besides this morning was back in early 2006. He says i agreed verbally to pay, but i don't recall this at all.

Is there any service that will actively monitor if i get a court summons in NY and notify me right away?

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

chasmith — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:13:30 GMT

NY courts don't have jurisdiction over a VA resident. They will have to sue in VA, and such a suit is barred by SOL.

I wouldn't worry so much, this is a last gasp attempt to intimidate you. If I were in your position I would send them an FOAD letter.

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

JonGP3 — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:33:29 GMT

UPDATE:

They sent me the lease agreement which i signed back in 6-7-2005

They highlighted the personal guaranty section which has my Signature, Address, SSN, phone #, etc.

"This guaranty shall be governed by the laws of New York. I freely consent to personal jurisdiction in the new york courts including without limitation the civil court of the city of New York and I waive trial by Jury. This Guaranty will bind my heirs representatives and successors."

I believe this line means they can sue me in the Civil Court of New York City?

They called today asking how i'd like to "take care of this" and I told him to go right ahead with a law suit. The debt is outside of SOL and that is what I will stand by. They said ok expect a summons within 3 weeks. They all said if my lawyer would have read everything in the lease agreement he would have seen why i'm still liable for this debt. I haven't hired a lawyer yet, but I think i can get one through my employer for this mater.

Any input is appericated.

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

MarineVietVet — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 19:36:51 GMT

I hope this turns out well for you. I don't know what they can do legally but if they don't send that summons I think they would be in violation of:

FDCPA 807. False or misleading representations

A debt collector may not use any false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt. Without limiting the general application of the foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this section:

(5) The threat to take any action that cannot legally be taken or that is not intended to be taken.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

GregB — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 19:48:11 GMT

Just one of many news items about these fraudsters:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/investigators&id=6971081

The problem is that many people just roll over and pay. They are probably very good at using the law as a weapon but they aren't likely to spend a bunch of money chasing you. You might want to think about making it expensive for them to go after you.

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

JonGP3 — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 22:05:45 GMT

So i just pulled all 3 CRs and they aren't reporting this... lol

We'll see if they actually come back with a law suit or not.

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 03:35:04 GMT

I am having huge problems with this company as well.

My debt was from 2005. filed bk7 February 20 2012 and discharged June 18th 2012. I was having a hard time with them updating my experian report only to zero balance IIB. finally EX did.

Here's the problem now...2 weeks ago i see a hard pull. I call them and ask why did you do that? Rep said that they had to verify my BK. i explained that you can check with the court ect. he then says well we are going to keep checking and pulling it for changes .. i told them i would Sue, contact EX, Bbb. he said go ahead. today they pulled my credit report again. what should i do? This is 2 hard pulls in less then a month. EX told me last time nothing they can do. they can pull when they want. this is so not right. how many pulls can i expect? please any advice would help. i and so mad right now.

Cant get over how they can keep pulling and pulling and killing my hard work i am doing to rebuild my credit.

I read all over the net that this is some of the stuff they do. My debt is discharge. the only reason now to pull is to just kill my score on spite.

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

JonGP3 — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 21:19:09 GMT

Just thought I would post an update. They still query my Credit every month, not sure how to tell if this affects my score. They no longer report the claim as it's been well over 7 years now almost 8. I still get 2 letters in the mail every 3 months claiming civil suit action. Now I'm getting calls again from a robot asking me to stay on the line to get it resolved. The same guy Ruben Garcia has been assigned to the "case" for some time now. My only fear at this point is if they actually do sue I live in TX now and it would be rather cumbersome to fly up for court just to prove SOL.

I'm wondering at this point if I should pursue my own legal means for pain and suffering as well as damage to my credit score for the repeated queries.

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

DaBears — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 21:31:29 GMT

I would contact a consumer attorney. You might be able to file a suit as a class action. They can not sue you for debt that is 8 yrs old.

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 23:43:10 GMT

I need help also.. Do you know of any class action suite I would like to join also

Re: MBF Leasing scam/fraud contract please help

RobertEG — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 00:10:52 GMT

As stated in an earlier post, the FDCPA specifically states that it is a violation to threaten legal action that they have no actual intent to bring.

Repeated and unfulfilled threats would, in my find, provide fairly clear basis for showing they are threats with lack of actual intent to carry through.

As a side issue, while defense of legal action initiated outside of SOL normally places the burden on the defendant to show in court and raise that defense, some states have a preliminary requirement for a party to first provide advance notice of intent to sue, along with supporting documentation that establishes the debt, 30 days or so prior to bring action. N. Carolina is one such state. You thus get documentation and a heads-up review of evidence prior to any legal action.

I'm not familiar with the requirements in the possible venues in your case, but it is certainly something that I would want to check out with an attorney.

With all of the issues regarding venue for any possible legal action, and thus the prevailing SOL at trial, contract issues, etc., I would definately recommend consultation with an attorney.

You may very well receive a recommendation that you have basis for initiating your own legal action.