Complaint Review: Lease Finance Group LLC

According to a press release dated April 23, 2012, The Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced a lawsuit against a group of New York City-based business equipment leasing companies. Schneiderman alleges the New York City-based business fraudulently siphoned millions of dollars from their former customers, including mom-pop stores and other small businesses. Northern Leading Systems, Inc. and its affiliates, which lease credit card processing machines and other equipment, carried out a deceptive scheme to drain over $10 million in authorized debits from the bank accounts of over 100,000 former customers up to 11 years after their equipment leases had expired, ultimately retaining at least $3.5 million. To disguise the scheme, Northern Leasing and it's affiliates, Lease Finance Group LLC, MBF Leasing LLC, Golden Eagle Leasing LLC, and Lease Source-LSI, LLC, used a shell company, SKS Associates LLC, to deliberately mislead customers in an attempt to avoid any harm to Northern Leasing's business reputation. After receiving over 70 complaints from victims around the country Schneiderman alleges the customers bank accounts were charged automatically every month. The leases required customers to reimburse the companies for property taxes and related "administrative fees" Northern leasing claims it failed to collect some of these amounts form certain customers while their leases were still active. Schneiderman also alleges the company could not explain why it failed to collect the amount previously, nor could it show that the alleged amounts were actually owed. In fact, 77 percent of the amounts SKS sought to collect were not taxes at all but "administrative fees" The Attorney General's lawsuit seeks full restitution for the tens of thousands of former customers defrauded in the scheme, disgorgement of all profits, penalties, fees, and injunction relief prohibiting Northern Leasing and its affiliates from continuing to engage in these deceptive collection practices. Attorney General Schneiderman encourages victims or anyone with information about Northern Leasing and SKS's scheme to file a complaint with the Consumer Fraud and Protection Bureau. Victims may also call the Attorney General's Consumer Frauds hotline at (800) 771-7755. According to a press release dated April 23, 2012, The Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced a lawsuit against a group of New York City-based business equipment leasing companies. Schneiderman alleges the New York City-based business fraudulently siphoned millions of dollars from their former customers, including mom-pop stores and other small businesses. Northern Leading Systems, Inc. and its affiliates, which lease credit card processing machines and other equipment, carried out a deceptive scheme to drain over $10 million in authorized debits from the bank accounts of over 100,000 former customers up to 11 years after their equipment leases had expired, ultimately retaining at least $3.5 million. To disguise the scheme, Northern Leasing and it's affiliates, Lease Finance Group LLC, MBF Leasing LLC, Golden Eagle Leasing LLC, and Lease Source-LSI, LLC, used a shell company, SKS Associates LLC, to deliberately mislead customers in an attempt to avoid any harm to Northern Leasing's business reputation. After receiving over 70 complaints from victims around the country Schneiderman alleges the customers bank accounts were charged automatically every month. The leases required customers to reimburse the companies for property taxes and related "administrative fees" Northern leasing claims it failed to collect some of these amounts form certain customers while their leases were still active. Schneiderman also alleges the company could not explain why it failed to collect the amount previously, nor could it show that the alleged amounts were actually owed. In fact, 77 percent of the amounts SKS sought to collect were not taxes at all but "administrative fees" The Attorney General's lawsuit seeks full restitution for the tens of thousands of former customers defrauded in the scheme, disgorgement of all profits, penalties, fees, and injunction relief prohibiting Northern Leasing and its affiliates from continuing to engage in these deceptive collection practices. Attorney General Schneiderman encourages victims or anyone with information about Northern Leasing and SKS's scheme to file a complaint with the Consumer Fraud and Protection Bureau. Victims may also call the Attorney General's Consumer Frauds hotline at (800) 771-7755. - See more at: http://www.bbb.org/chicago/business-reviews/leasing-service/lease-finance-group-in-chicago-il-27006448#sthash.bKKZFgDG.dpuf

We are in the same boat. LFG/Payment systems lied to and swindled my 65 yr old mother and told her she could cancel at any time absolutely no problem or questions asked. We could not use the machine, it would not work for us at all. We sent the machine back immediately and never made one transaction through their machine. When we tried to cancel... low and behold no one would speak to us. We have been harrrassed and threatened. Now supposedly being sued! We are in the process now of filing a report with the New York Attorney General who just won a law suit against LFG. I suggest you do the same.