     CC (Creditcriminal) | Thursday, January 11, 2001 - 03:42 pm 
I just got off the phone with some rude jackass at the Law Offices of Paul Stassinos. Theyre showing 2 collections on my credit report for 2 checks I wrote in 1994. The guy tells me that the amount I owe is roughly $489.00. The face value of the two checks is $34.71. He tells me they will accept a payoff of $265.00. The California Civil Code states that you can be responsible for "treble" damages on bad checks, which is essentially 3 times the amount of the check, not to exceed $1500. It also states that if you are held responsible for treble damages, you cannot be held responsible for a returned check fee, which is $25 for the first check, and $35 for each check thereafter to the same payee. Lets do the math:
Check #1:
Original amount: $28.01
Treble Damages: $84.03
Total: $112.04
Check #2:
Original amount: $6.70
Treble Damages: $20.10
Total: $26.80
Total for both checks: $138.84
Is this the correct amount I should be liable for?? I told the jerk on the phone that his $489 amount was insane. He said something about California Law that changed in 1995. Since these checks were written in 1994, do the penalties from then apply to a payoff today? Or does the old debt fall under the current law?
This guy was prattling on about mailing in a payment immediately, and didnt really care to hear what I had to say, until I reminded him that the 7 year statute of limitations was up in April of this year. He started yelling at me about wasting his time,so I hung up on him. |
| Shylock (Shylock) | Friday, January 12, 2001 - 04:03 am
You are liable for three times the amount of the check, but not less than $500 or more than $1500, plus the face value of the check. Accordingly they could be asking you for $1,026.80.
That's the current law. I have no idea how the old law read, nor whether your check falls under the old law or the new law. I have no idea if the statute of limitations is different for bad check writing vs. loans, but in California the statute of limitations for suing someone over a loan is 4 years. And if they're only going to be on your credit report for a litle while longer... |
| Morgan Appel (Downinsocal) | Saturday, January 13, 2001 - 12:28 pm
Hello, Criminal!
I've had dealings with these morons too. They keep sending out these letters which have inflated the cost of a Domino's pizza from $20.00 to $400.00 or so.
I let them prattle on for a bit, and then I told them that I was only visiting for a spell, and could take a message. Shocked 'em, never heard from them again.
A bunch of idiots. |
