I have a big problem and I don't know what to do or where to turn. I'm not currently working, I can't really afford a lawyer to help with this. Long post but I want to cover everything and I really need help.
First off I'm into import cars which for anyone who knows anything about them it can be a very expensive hobby. I support my hobby by buying, selling and trading parts with other people.
I've been selling parts online for the last couple of years without any major issues other then a few lost package, broken parts, etc. I do not sell new parts normally unless I can buy them cheap off 3rd party time people and resell for a quick few dollars. I don't have any distributors, wholesalers, etc.
Mostly I re-sell parts I pick up at bone yards. For example I can pickup an ECU for $20 locally and put it on a car parts trader or eBay for a couple hundred dollars. Then other times I sell personal items I've used in order to upgrade my own car.
Well a few months ago I blew up my car. I damaged my turbo and my head. These items are very expensive so I decided to part out the car and sell off the parts in hopes of being able to get a new car or fix another one.
This is where my problem started.
I had a guy contact me from over sea's who seemed to be interested in my engine, transmition and some other misc parts. These items were by no way stock and I have over $7000 dollars into them at the time.
My asking price was something like $3800 for all the items however I was unsure about shipping items this large outside the USA. I didn't know if I wanted to deal with the hassle. Anyway he said he would give me an extra $200 dollars for my hassle and even arrange the details with the freight company.
I sell a lot of stuff outside the USA so I didn't think much of it.
He offered to pay via cashiers check drawn in U.S. funds on a U.S. bank. The cashiers check was sent to me from Lagos Nigeria. He said once I got the check to cash it and contact him and let him know everything was good and we would go from there.
Check came, I deposited it on a Saturday to my ATM machine. Due to bank rules I was able to withdraw a small amount of the money then but the rest had to wait until the check cleared. I know this because I called customer service to see how much if any I could withdraw then as I wanted to do some Christmas shopping and I owned some people money.
Anyway technically the check did not get to the bank until Monday, that's when they got it out of the ATM and processed it.
So at this point I thought there would be a couple day wait for me to withdraw the funds so I didn't write any checks or use my ATM card.
I knew I had something like $15~20 dollars in the bank so I checked my account online Tuesday to see if the money was still available to me and to my surprise I see my account has the rest of the $4000 dollars in too.
At this point I thought I should call the bank before I wrote checks or started to use my ATM card so I called the 1-800 number on the back of my ATM card to verify my funds.
The girl I spoke to asked me a few verification questions then told me my balance. The balance was the rest of the $4000 dollars. I said you are sure these funds are in there now because I just deposited that check Saturday and I didn't think it cleared yet. She checked again and said yes sir the funds are now available to you to spend. I said ok well if you are sure umm that's all I needed to know thanks.
Then I went to the ATM the same day (Tuesday afternoon) and the ATM also said I had the funds so I took out like $1200 dollars so I could pay off some people I owed money to, pick up some car parts for a family members van and various other things.
Then I stopped at some stores and bought some Christmas gifts, knives, more car parts, paid off some friends, etc.
I then ordered some items off the internet and went to a friends house to hang out for a few hours.
I left his house just before midnight Tuesday night, stopped at the ATM down the street just after midnight (now Wednesday morning) and checked my funds again and withdrew some more money.
Well Wednesday the place I ordered the parts from online contacted me and said the card was refused.
I contacted the bank to find out why and they informed me the check has a hold put on it because it was out of the country and we needed to wait for it to clear. I informed the lady at my local branch that customer service told me it had cleared and I could withdraw the funds. She said no that's wrong and you cant withdraw until after its cleared. I said ummmm I already withdrew money and used my card all over town.
Well now all the ATM card transactions were going to get refused and bounce so I was upset there. She said she could go ahead and pay them so they don't bounce but if the check didn't clear it was my problem. Then she asked where I got the check. I said from some items I sold on the internet and she told me about another guy who had cashed a $4000 dollar check a while ago and had it bounce and now he is paying off the bank.
This had me worried so I contacted the guy who sent me the check and told him what was going on. I have never heard back from him. Not a single word. Didn't want to know what was up with this parts or money. I tried to email him a couple times with no replies.
Anyway a week or so passes and the bank informs me of the worst. Check was returned. I had already spent the money too. I explained to the girl had customer service NOT told me it was ok, I would have never spent all the money. We talked on the phone a few times over the next few days. She basically didn't give a shit that I was the victim and all she wanted was the money.
I do feel the banks part to blame because she informed me there was a screw up on the banks part and the check was not held properly. Messed up part was she told me the old went on Monday night but I didn't even talk to the bank until Tuesday so that was a load of crap because the funds were there. I asked how do you explain that? She said I don't know.
I talk to her a day or so later and now the story has changed. The hold went in Tuesday morning after I spent the money.. Wrong.. I didn't spend the money Monday, I spent it Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. She again didn't know how I spent the money because there was suppose to be a hold but they messed up.
I was so worried about my credit. I asked so what's going to happen. I don't have $4000+ dollars. She said I would have to pay them $375 dollars a month.. WHAT!!!! $375? That's a house payment. I cant afford that. I told her there is no way I can do that. I was thinking more like $25 bucks a month or something. Girl was like no the bank needs it paid off in less then a year. I said well what happens if its not? She said it would go to collections.
I still couldn't get her to cut me a break because the bank messed up and we just kept aruging about it.
I finally gave up and said ok do whatever you guys need to do. I figured I would just let it go to collections and then try to work out a deal with them to spare my credit.
Few days later I get a certified letter in the mail. My mother signs for it as I wasn't home.
The letter was a complete joke. It said I had 5 days to repay the $4000 and some dollars or they would turn me over to collections or possibly there lawyer. I figured ok no big deal I knew this would go to collections.
I talked to the same girl again at the bank and she said well have you gotten any letters in the mail from us? I said yes. That was the end of that. She closed my account and turned it over to whoever handles that stuff.
Week or so passed a a DETECTIVE from the police department showed up at my mothers house when I was not home.
Whoa... What the hell.
So I told him I would come in and talk to him. I had a 3pm appointment today. My mom was so worried I would get in trouble that she called a lawyer she knew and had him call me.
The lawyer was like NOOOOO NOOO don't speak to the police without a lawywer, this is a big deal. I went into speak to the police offer and told him what the lawyer told me, not to speak to him without a lawyer and boy let me tell you, he wouldn't speak to me after that.
He did however inform me the check was counterfeit and I was looking at a 15 year prison sentence. OMG. I didn't do anything wrong. I took a check, the bank messed up so customer service thought it cleared, they told me it was safe to spend and now I'm being charged with a felony.
I have no clue what to do. No one cares I was a victim. I never said I wouldn't pay back the money. I was waiting for there collections to contact me so I could try to setup something I could afford. $375 a month isn't even reasonable. I figured the collections department would be more flexible.
The girl at the bank even told me they wanted to handle it internal at there branch because it would make them look bad to corporate but like I told her I cant do $375 a month.
The messed up part was when my mother spoke to the police detective she made the comment I dont see why they are trying to blame my son. The cop said your son hasn't told u the whole story and is trying to protect you. He needs to stand up and take responsibility for what he did.
What I did?!@# I didn't do anything other then be a victim of bad check. This cops got me prejudged or something. I think they think I had something to do with this check other then just having the bad luck to get it in the mail.
He also said I have ignored the bank. What a load of crap. I have spoken to this one lady at the bank repeatedly and the letter dint say to contact anyone, it said to pay $4000 in 5 days. I did speak to someone though so its not like I'm ignoring them.
Help.. What the hell should I do.
First off I'm into import cars which for anyone who knows anything about them it can be a very expensive hobby. I support my hobby by buying, selling and trading parts with other people.
I've been selling parts online for the last couple of years without any major issues other then a few lost package, broken parts, etc. I do not sell new parts normally unless I can buy them cheap off 3rd party time people and resell for a quick few dollars. I don't have any distributors, wholesalers, etc.
Mostly I re-sell parts I pick up at bone yards. For example I can pickup an ECU for $20 locally and put it on a car parts trader or eBay for a couple hundred dollars. Then other times I sell personal items I've used in order to upgrade my own car.
Well a few months ago I blew up my car. I damaged my turbo and my head. These items are very expensive so I decided to part out the car and sell off the parts in hopes of being able to get a new car or fix another one.
This is where my problem started.
I had a guy contact me from over sea's who seemed to be interested in my engine, transmition and some other misc parts. These items were by no way stock and I have over $7000 dollars into them at the time.
My asking price was something like $3800 for all the items however I was unsure about shipping items this large outside the USA. I didn't know if I wanted to deal with the hassle. Anyway he said he would give me an extra $200 dollars for my hassle and even arrange the details with the freight company.
I sell a lot of stuff outside the USA so I didn't think much of it.
He offered to pay via cashiers check drawn in U.S. funds on a U.S. bank. The cashiers check was sent to me from Lagos Nigeria. He said once I got the check to cash it and contact him and let him know everything was good and we would go from there.
Check came, I deposited it on a Saturday to my ATM machine. Due to bank rules I was able to withdraw a small amount of the money then but the rest had to wait until the check cleared. I know this because I called customer service to see how much if any I could withdraw then as I wanted to do some Christmas shopping and I owned some people money.
Anyway technically the check did not get to the bank until Monday, that's when they got it out of the ATM and processed it.
So at this point I thought there would be a couple day wait for me to withdraw the funds so I didn't write any checks or use my ATM card.
I knew I had something like $15~20 dollars in the bank so I checked my account online Tuesday to see if the money was still available to me and to my surprise I see my account has the rest of the $4000 dollars in too.
At this point I thought I should call the bank before I wrote checks or started to use my ATM card so I called the 1-800 number on the back of my ATM card to verify my funds.
The girl I spoke to asked me a few verification questions then told me my balance. The balance was the rest of the $4000 dollars. I said you are sure these funds are in there now because I just deposited that check Saturday and I didn't think it cleared yet. She checked again and said yes sir the funds are now available to you to spend. I said ok well if you are sure umm that's all I needed to know thanks.
Then I went to the ATM the same day (Tuesday afternoon) and the ATM also said I had the funds so I took out like $1200 dollars so I could pay off some people I owed money to, pick up some car parts for a family members van and various other things.
Then I stopped at some stores and bought some Christmas gifts, knives, more car parts, paid off some friends, etc.
I then ordered some items off the internet and went to a friends house to hang out for a few hours.
I left his house just before midnight Tuesday night, stopped at the ATM down the street just after midnight (now Wednesday morning) and checked my funds again and withdrew some more money.
Well Wednesday the place I ordered the parts from online contacted me and said the card was refused.
I contacted the bank to find out why and they informed me the check has a hold put on it because it was out of the country and we needed to wait for it to clear. I informed the lady at my local branch that customer service told me it had cleared and I could withdraw the funds. She said no that's wrong and you cant withdraw until after its cleared. I said ummmm I already withdrew money and used my card all over town.
Well now all the ATM card transactions were going to get refused and bounce so I was upset there. She said she could go ahead and pay them so they don't bounce but if the check didn't clear it was my problem. Then she asked where I got the check. I said from some items I sold on the internet and she told me about another guy who had cashed a $4000 dollar check a while ago and had it bounce and now he is paying off the bank.
This had me worried so I contacted the guy who sent me the check and told him what was going on. I have never heard back from him. Not a single word. Didn't want to know what was up with this parts or money. I tried to email him a couple times with no replies.
Anyway a week or so passes and the bank informs me of the worst. Check was returned. I had already spent the money too. I explained to the girl had customer service NOT told me it was ok, I would have never spent all the money. We talked on the phone a few times over the next few days. She basically didn't give a shit that I was the victim and all she wanted was the money.
I do feel the banks part to blame because she informed me there was a screw up on the banks part and the check was not held properly. Messed up part was she told me the old went on Monday night but I didn't even talk to the bank until Tuesday so that was a load of crap because the funds were there. I asked how do you explain that? She said I don't know.
I talk to her a day or so later and now the story has changed. The hold went in Tuesday morning after I spent the money.. Wrong.. I didn't spend the money Monday, I spent it Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. She again didn't know how I spent the money because there was suppose to be a hold but they messed up.
I was so worried about my credit. I asked so what's going to happen. I don't have $4000+ dollars. She said I would have to pay them $375 dollars a month.. WHAT!!!! $375? That's a house payment. I cant afford that. I told her there is no way I can do that. I was thinking more like $25 bucks a month or something. Girl was like no the bank needs it paid off in less then a year. I said well what happens if its not? She said it would go to collections.
I still couldn't get her to cut me a break because the bank messed up and we just kept aruging about it.
I finally gave up and said ok do whatever you guys need to do. I figured I would just let it go to collections and then try to work out a deal with them to spare my credit.
Few days later I get a certified letter in the mail. My mother signs for it as I wasn't home.
The letter was a complete joke. It said I had 5 days to repay the $4000 and some dollars or they would turn me over to collections or possibly there lawyer. I figured ok no big deal I knew this would go to collections.
I talked to the same girl again at the bank and she said well have you gotten any letters in the mail from us? I said yes. That was the end of that. She closed my account and turned it over to whoever handles that stuff.
Week or so passed a a DETECTIVE from the police department showed up at my mothers house when I was not home.
Whoa... What the hell.
So I told him I would come in and talk to him. I had a 3pm appointment today. My mom was so worried I would get in trouble that she called a lawyer she knew and had him call me.
The lawyer was like NOOOOO NOOO don't speak to the police without a lawywer, this is a big deal. I went into speak to the police offer and told him what the lawyer told me, not to speak to him without a lawyer and boy let me tell you, he wouldn't speak to me after that.
He did however inform me the check was counterfeit and I was looking at a 15 year prison sentence. OMG. I didn't do anything wrong. I took a check, the bank messed up so customer service thought it cleared, they told me it was safe to spend and now I'm being charged with a felony.
I have no clue what to do. No one cares I was a victim. I never said I wouldn't pay back the money. I was waiting for there collections to contact me so I could try to setup something I could afford. $375 a month isn't even reasonable. I figured the collections department would be more flexible.
The girl at the bank even told me they wanted to handle it internal at there branch because it would make them look bad to corporate but like I told her I cant do $375 a month.
The messed up part was when my mother spoke to the police detective she made the comment I dont see why they are trying to blame my son. The cop said your son hasn't told u the whole story and is trying to protect you. He needs to stand up and take responsibility for what he did.
What I did?!@# I didn't do anything other then be a victim of bad check. This cops got me prejudged or something. I think they think I had something to do with this check other then just having the bad luck to get it in the mail.
He also said I have ignored the bank. What a load of crap. I have spoken to this one lady at the bank repeatedly and the letter dint say to contact anyone, it said to pay $4000 in 5 days. I did speak to someone though so its not like I'm ignoring them.
Help.. What the hell should I do.
