Complaint Review: LeaseComm Corp.

This company claims that I owe them $6,000 on a lease for a credit card processing machine.

On 5-24-01 I received a call from a collection agency trying to collect over $6,000 for an unpaid lease with Leasecomm. The collection agency (Phillip and Cohen Associates) proceeds to tell me that this account has not been paid on and if it is not satisfied, they will sue me. I told the rep. that I did not sign a lease with this company for anything.

The rep. was apprehensive about my dispute and asked me for proof. I told him to fax me a copy of the lease, so I could look at the signature. The lease agreement was faxed to me, along with a threatening letter. I soon called the rep. back with this collection agency to inform him that the signatures on this document were not mine, and I wanted to know what I needed to do to resolve this. The rep. told me that I had to get my signature notarized and fax it back to him.

I went to a Notary Public and had my signature notarized just as the rep. had told me. I then faxed it back to him and never heard from him or this company again. Soon after, my parents started receiving monthly statements from this company (Leasecomm) in the mail for me. After months of this I decided that I had had enough, and was tired of getting mail from my mother.

On 1-25-02 I called Leasecomm to inquire about this account. I was under the impression that I had resolved the issue with the signature not being my own the prior year in May with Phillips and Cohen Associates. I spoke with John Picardi at Leasecomm and explained the entire situation to him. He told me that Leasecomm does not do business with Phillips and Cohen Associates, he had no idea who the rep. was that I talked with at this company and that they do not accept faxed documents.

After arguing about those statements for several minutes, he moved on to inform me that there had been one payment made on the account in May of 2001 from my checking account. I replied to John explaining that I had never written a check to Leasecomm nor made any payments to them. I was told basically that I was lying to avoid a responsibility on the lease, and that I was expected to pay up or face legal recourse. I ended this phone conversation angry and frustrated telling John P. that I was not responsible for this lease and I wasn't paying for it.

After this, the only communication with the company was via mail. I continued to receive monthly statements at my parent's home address.

On 11-29-02, Lance F. with Regency Credit, LLC telephoned me at my residence to seek payment on the account, which has now grown to over $7,000. Lance identified himself as "with a Collections Attorney Office, then proceeded to tell me what I owed and for who. I then told him the history of this account, his response was "I'm not surprised, this type of thing has happened before with this client." I asked him for his fax number so that I could fax him the documentation I have supporting my claims. I faxed the information to him on 11-29-02.

On 12-30-02 I called the 800 number Lance left me to inquire about this account. I found out from the operator that this company is not an attorney's office but they did work with attorney Frank Schwartz (their offices must be in Phoenix, because while I was on hold...this annoying car ad kept saying your Phoenix dealer...) and that Lance was not himself an attorney.

Lance told me that he received my fax and forwarded it to the creditor (Leasecomm) and was waiting to hear back from them. Until then, the account was on hold. He further explained that I probably would not hear from him again and that I more than likely can expect to have a different collection agency contacting me in another year. I couldn't believe it; this problem has gone on for over 2 years now without resolution despite my efforts to prove that I did not sign their lease agreement with Leasecomm.

I then informed Lance for his records that I am not going to wait until next year to have to deal with this all over again for the 3rd year in a row. I said that I was going to file complaints with the FTC, the BBB and the Indiana State Attorney Generals Office. Lance quickly interceded to make sure that I was not talking about his company, and I told him "no, Leasecomm is the responsible party."

Since this conversation, I have filed complaints against Leasecomm with the above mentioned mediating associations as well as checking old records. I did find in old bank records that Leasecomm did in fact take an ACH debit from an old bank account for $104.95 on 5-16-01. Checking the lease, it was from the checking account listed on the lease.

I also noticed looking over the lease agreement that there was no place for a SSN nor was it in the agreement (which I find odd, because any creditor wants that information), there are at least four differnt obvious types of handwriting on the lease, the small section in the lower right corner of the first page was marked out so I couldn't see it (but later found it was for a witness signature).

After doing a little more research, I found www.leaseconn.com and was completely shocked by what I was reading. But then, after getting the Better Business Bureau reliability report on this company, I should have expected it!

How could this company get my information and use it like this? I assure everyone that I have invested in a simple 7 page crosscut paper shredder that everything I want to throw away now, including junk mail, I shred it. When someone wants to know very important personal information, like SSN or date of birth or banking institution, I check the company out first. I have done this many times while on the phone with telemarketers and solicitors. It's kind of amusing, because when you trip up the person on the other end of the phone and they get stuck...they usually just hang up!!! It's great. But back to the issue at hand...

I have consulted with an attorney briefly about this case, and I'm told that I have a good case. I have also checked the clerk's office to see what the costs are to file a claim - it isn't cheap!

If anyone has been through a similar situation with this company, please email me brood@insightbb.com , because I would like to know how you handled it and what the outcome has been. As for me, I have full intentions of filing a claim against this company, but I would like to find a more reasonably priced attorney. The retainer fees in my area are outrageous (around $1000 + other fees), so also if anyone knows of a good attorney that is reasonably priced, please forward the information to me.

Bradley
Bloomington, Indiana
U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Leasecomm

STOP! ..before you think about using the Better Business Bureau (BBB)... CLICK HERE to see how other consumers were victimized by the BBB's false or misleading information. Don't be fooled! It has been reported, when there are thousands of complaints and other investigations underway by authorities, the BBB has no choice but to finally give an UNsatisfactory rating to a BBB member business that is paying the BBB big membership fees every year. When a business is reported that is NOT a BBB member, BBB files WILL more likely show an UNsatisfactory rating, then reportedly shake down that company to become a member of the BBB. One positive thing about the BBB is, either way, if a business has an unsatisfactory rating with the BBB, you can be sure, the business is bad. But what about all those BBB member businesses that had complaints filed against them? Consumers never get to hear about them. What about the BBB advertising to the public? Is this a false and misleading perception they are giving about consumer confidence when dealing with a business? Click here to understand more of what consumers and business alike are saying about the BBB. You decide. ..Remember. The BBB membership is not earned, its paid for!