* Wolvie needs some legal help *,.....

[Wolvie]

Hi Everyone,...
Just woke up to the screams of my girlfriend,...who informed me that her account (Bank Account), has been frozen,...by the state.

But for what we do not know, and wont get to know anything until tomorrow (7.19.05 Tues.).
all we can figure is that we buy cigarettes,...from a buisness in NY (where we live), and the state feels we owe some sort of cig tax,..but I thought and heard that they were only (state),interested in anyone buying cigs outside NY and having them shipped in to NY at low prices.
We were paying cheap prices for a carton of cigs,...and the price went up at least 2 times since NY started cracking down on cigs that were being shipped in to NY.

But as I said , we buy our cigs from a place here in NY, and we pay more due to the fact the company we buy from had to raise the prices on cigs to pay taxes (NY State Taxes),..So why is NY screwing with us?!

I really hate this state and had been thinking of moving out of here and back to Ohio.Not that it is any better,..but there are some better reasons.And cheaper reasons,..
So Does anyone know the laws or new laws on purchasing cigs in the same state you live ?
I have been looking for the past hour on NY`s site and there`s nothing there that states we have done anything wrong.
And the only way we would get in trouble or have our account closed is if we were buying from "outside" NY.

I need help in the law area, we are -$6,896.00 minus in our account,...with a balance of $101.00.
Which doesnt make any sense to me at all.

Can anyone help me out here and tell me what the real law is here in this state concerning purchasing cigs in the "same state".

Thanks ahead of time,...

Later All
SAFE HUNTIN~

[foto]

NYC has been doing this to a whole bunch of people who ordered cigs over the internet. Where were you getting yours? I imagine if you were getting them in state then you must have been getting them from one of the Indian reservations.
I heard something about the reservations settling with the state to settle problems with taxes and part of the settlement was giving up their lists of customers.

[foto]

Got cut off in my post.
Indian reservations are technically not in the state and are federally created which is why they are always having problems with the states over who has power over whom i.e gambling, collecting taxes etc. (If you get them from somewhere else in state it doesn't make any sense.)

Anyways, there is not a whole lot you can do if its the state. You can fight it but they already got your money and thus nothing to lose. The amount of money they took is not enough that it would pay to raise a first class defense. Since the chances of winning your money back are slim if its for legitimate taxes owed how much can you really afford to risk to fight it. Best course of action may be to get an attorney tommorrow and have them call the state and negotiate a settlement if possible (if you know that the taxes owed are legit). If you owe the money anyway maybe he can get you a considerable amount of it back or at least something in return for you not fighting it. Anything returned would be found money. Alot of times the state attorneys are willing to cut a deal to save work and in the interest of being fair. They usually have some idea how heavy handed the state can be and may cut you some slack if its presented to them properly. If the taxes are not legitimate then you have much more room to put up a good defense. Find out tomorrow and talk to an attorney. Good luck.

[TreeDoc]

Maybe Fabs can chime in on this one since it right up his alley. In my opinion it sounds as though they missed a step. I was under the impression they have to send you notice of their intent to levy an account and give you the option of paying the tax prior to the attachment. This being some ridiculous "cigarette tax" thing though perhaps they have some "out" that allows them to dig right in. Doesn't sound right to me though.

One thing you might be able to do is contact them and file a greivance because they can't prevent you from surviving with basic services. They have to leave you with something to pay for food, shelter, etc. If not then just jump on the welfare role and feed off the liberal scum system until you get your money's worth.

One more thing...you guys might consider giving up those coffin nails. That's a lot of cash to hand over for such a silly cause.

BTW...your balance probably reflects what they attempted to collect. It will all clear over night but they will have to levy again in order to get more. No deposits in the bank until you see where you stand.

[Andy L]

I guess Im old school and probably stupid/paranoid, but this is exactly why I dont use banks, anymore than I have to. I keep my money, well, Im not going to tell you where, but its safe. I dont deposit money in the bank, til I need to pay a bill. Pay my bills, mostly online with a credit card, so I dont have to write many checks. Then, deposit cash when I write the check or checks, as it may.

If Uncle Sam wants to freeze my accounts, I guess he can get some retirement money, but hes not gonna get my livin money. Thing is, I dont give them any reason to do anything, but it doesnt sound to me like Wolvie did either. They just decided to do it. Over cigarettes? :rolleyes: Please.

I dont trust the government or banks. Just dont.

Andy

[fabsroman]

Wolvie,

Are you assuming that it is over cigarette taxes owed or are you SURE it is over cigarette taxes owed?

First thing for you to do is find out what the real issue is and make sure you are on the same page as the state. I have had clients come to me with garnished bank accounts because they failed to appear for a trial even though they had been served with process. Could this be the case? If there is a judgment against you, you are probably SOL, as are most of my clients that come to me in this situation.

However, as TD said, there usually is a limit on how much they can garnish out of a bank account in civil matters. In Maryland, they have to leave a person with a little over $3,000. However, that is for civil garnishments. If the police have frozen your account because of criminal activity, then that is a whole different matter.

How did you end up with such a negative balance of over $6,000? Is that the result of the garnishment or checks that you have written?

There are always a lot of questions when you talk to an attorney because we need to know the entire situation. Had to explain that to a client of mine a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway, I hope everything works out well for you guys.

[Wolvie]

Well all I found out what it is all about,...
It wasnt the state of NY, it was the state of OHIO,..and it wasnt over cigarettes,..
My girlfriend had a credit card from like 7 years ago that she owed on, and they put a judgement on her and frooze her bacnk account.So any money that goes into the account will go towards that debit.

It`s funny that they say she owes over $3,000.00 and they doubled the amount against her bank account.

I am like Andy I dont use banks for that simple reason,..your money is not protected by crap like that.
I understand if you owe a bill you need to be responsable,..but her orginal bill was only $300.00 and they didnt except a payment back in 1994,...because they wanted it all.
So she felt that if they didnt want what she was paying she said heck with it.

So now she has to call S.S. and have her checks sent to the house instead of the direct deposit and any other money we come into will have to be kept out of the bank as well.

So I guess I am going to have to cash any checks at the local grocery store lol.

She is going to pay them but in payments, and if they dont accept the payments then we will put whatever money into an escrow account.

I appreciate everyones advise,..and help.
Sorry to get everyone worked up over the wrong thing.
We just couldnt think of what it was,..but now we know.
Figures it would be something out of left field so to speak.

Ok thanks again everyone,...

Later All
SAFE HUNTIN~

[TreeDoc]

Sounds like someone just plain blew off some financial responsibilities! :rolleyes: That takes some doing for things to go that far!

[fabsroman]

See, that is the reason I ask all the questions.

As far as a credit company not accepting partial payment on an outstanding debt, I don't think I would believe that one.

You don't have to worry about making payments on the debt if they garnished the bank account and there is enough money in it to pay the judgment. The way it works in Maryland is that a certain amount of time has to pass before the judgment creditor can take the money. Technically, the judgment debtor has 30 days to respond and assert certain defenses and minimum requirements for living. After that period, if the judgment debtor does not respond the Judge grants the garnishment and enough money is pulled from the account to pay the debt.

Be thankful that there is enough money in the account and that they are not garnishing her wages too. Then you would really be up a creek.

Along with the accrual of interest, credit agreements usually provide for the payment of attorneys fees and costs of collection if they have to be collected through the court system. That is probably what really screwed her. Not only were there fees in Ohio for the initial judgment, but there were fees in New York for the garnishment. Also, how did they get a judgment against her in Ohio if they didn't serve her? She had to have known about the lawsuit to have a judgment against her.

Just more questions for you. Simple solution is for her to pay the judgment off and be done with it.

[Wolvie]

Wow !
Yup I will answer the one post about someone Dropping the ball, she did,..but she had to have a rude awakening to see that she did.
I can go on and make it sound like i am defending my girl,..
So I wont,..
I will say this,..Fabs I should be a lawyer,..I made some calls today,..(after my ranting and venting on the gas thing),and the credit card company dropped the judgement against her bank accout and now are going to accept payments from her until the account is paid off.

I told them that they waited like 4 yrs to do anything about this and that now it just seems "over kill " to take her(ours),last $190.00 that we had in the bank,So the lady I talked to was rude and cruel,...
to go on,...
I got the rude one to put me through to a nicer more understanding lady,...and well lets say that the rude one is getting some rudness back her way from her own company.

(Who says Wolvie cant slice N Dice),...Anyways,...

The nicer lady was an account manager who said that everything got fouled up,....and told Mary(my girl),that she will handle and help Mary get it all together and get it cleared up,..Mary doesnt owe the almost $7,000.00 at first thought that she owed,...she owes around $3,900.00 and they are reducing that by almost $2,000.00. Due to the fact that scare tactics just dont get them
anywhere and also the the fact that they ran accross an "over Due account " in their data base,...that was almost like around 7 yrs old or more.

They are willing to settle for the lower balance and help my girl get her credit re-established.

God must be looking over my shoulder today Bros,...
I am hoping he`ll just sit right there and be comfortable and keep watching over me and my family and my friends.

I had to testify to this day,...and tell you all about it.
It is all crazy to me,...but aye crazy is this worlds middle name,..

Later All
SAFE HUNTIN~

[fabsroman]

The credit card company just wants to get as much of its money back as possible. They will always take this road because your girl could declare bankruptcy and then they would get almost nothing, judgment or not. As long as they get back the principal and a little above that, they are ahead of the game. Of course, it won't look good on the credit report, but it will be better than paying off a $7,000 judgment or having to declare bankruptcy.

Good work Wolvie.

[denton]

As I understand it, in some jurisdictions, if the creditor makes no attempt to collect for a couple of years, the debt becomes uncollectable... unless you have a judgement against you. If that's the case, then your GF should know that happened.

[fabsroman]

There is always a statute of limitations, but I don't know when it starts to run on a credit card agreement. I have never had a client sued over owing money on a credit card. Generally, the statue of limitations is 3 years, but that is in Maryland.

Also, if you do not show up to defend or you do not assert statute of limitations as a defense, you are up a creek. Once a judgment is entered, it takes some serious circumstances to have the judgment vacated.

[Wolvie]

The jugdement was made agaisnt her in Ohio because we lived there for 6 moths ,then we moved back here,...then by the time we got the sopena we were back in NY and it was about 3 months after the the court date.
So she was up the creek without a paddle and diddnt know it until now.

But as i said,...its all taken care of now and they are taking small payments,..but as a security to make sure she continues to pay they are keeping a lien on her house and not on her bank account.
But we are not keeping any money in the bank due to the fact that it isnt secure for us,in case they decide to go take what they want,...and then we are screwed for other deductions that we may think was going to be paid,..but wouldnt be.
So at this time we are buying a safe and puttin it in our bedroom.LOLOL!

Later All
SAFE HUNTIN~

[fabsroman]

I hope she didn't sign something already giving them a lien on her house. That would be the best case scenario for them because you would not be able to discharge the debt un bankruptcy. While a home is a protected asset in bankruptcy to a certain extent, the debts secured by it usually are not dischargeable.

Are they still charging interest? If so, is the payment she is making greater than the monthly interest charge so that some of the principal will be paid down monthly? Otherwise, they will have you guys making payments for life.

[Wolvie]

She hasnt signed anything,...And I advised her(Per Fabs statements), not to.

She says she doesnt plan on signing anything.
As for the house lien,...they told her that would betheir last resort if she doesnt follow through with the agreed payments of $100.00 a month.
As for the interest fees,she is calling them to find out tomorrow about that.

I think they just have her set on the set account amount,..but I want her to make sure there are no additional charges being added.Or she will have to make other arrangements.

I`ll keep ya all posted,..And TY Fabs for the info and ideas,....I sincerly APPRECIATE them!!!!

Later All
SAFE HUNTIN~

[Allen]

What ever you do dont trust anything they tell you. The first thing they will do is lie to you to scare you. The next thing will be lie to you saying they will help you, i.e. rude lady, nice lady. These are low life people that just want your money. Be careful, I have seen this type of thing with friends and family.

Get an agreement in writing that they will take $xxxx amount to clear the account. If you dont, you will pay up to the point they said they would take then say there was no such agreement. If you dont have it in writing you dont have a leg to stand on in court and will be forced to pay the rest of the money.

As for her credit, it's shot for the next 5-7 years after the account is paid in full with this credit company. If this is the only problem on her credit report it wont be that big of a deal.

From this point on keep records of everything you do. Get the name or operator number of people you talk to, the date and time and what was said. Most answering machines have a record feature. If it is legal in your state, record the call. Dont tell them you are recording the call unless the law requires you to let the other party know. Laws are different from state to state.

Hope this will help you.
Allen

[fabsroman]

All very good advice Allen. Especially make sure you get the names of the people you speak with. I usually use a new piece of paper for each day that I make calls to anybody. I date the sheet and write the name of whomever I speak to along with the significant points of the conversation.