Good US debt recovery lawyer

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ak2000
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Hi,

We're having a "bit" of an issue with a US based payment processor who isn't pay up the money...can someone recommend a good US based lawyer who can take care of recovering the funds?

We'd like to stay away from debt collection agencies, for now at least...

Thanks in advance!
#debt #good #lawyer #recovery
  • Profile picture of the author GMD
    GMD
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    Originally Posted by ak2000 View Post

    Hi,

    We're having a "bit" of an issue with a US based payment processor who isn't pay up the money...can someone recommend a good US based lawyer who can take care of recovering the funds?

    We'd like to stay away from debt collection agencies, for now at least...

    Thanks in advance!
    Actually, the kind of attorney / solicitor you'd need really depends on what kind of payment processor you're talking about (say in case of "Paypal" or even a merchant provider) and the specific circumstances surrounding your claim that you're owed a "debt".

    If you don't mind, could you outline your circumstances specifically (without giving too much specifics that could identify you or your situation)?

    It would help tremendously in pointing you in the right direction.
    • Profile picture of the author ak2000
      ak2000
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      Originally Posted by GMD View Post

      Actually, the kind of attorney / solicitor you'd need really depends on what kind of payment processor you're talking about (say in case of "Paypal" or even a merchant provider) and the specific circumstances surrounding your claim that you're owed a "debt".

      If you don't mind, could you outline your circumstances specifically (without giving too much specifics that could identify you or your situation)?

      It would help tremendously in pointing you in the right direction.
      Hi GMD,

      It's a Clickbank-style payment processor (it's not Clickbank, paypal nor a direct credit card / merchant account payment processor). They are a 3rd party vendor who just like CB process payments on behalf of product vendors and pay the vendor the sum of sales minus fees, refunds etc on a regular basis.

      What happened is that we have been working with them since early July, clearance period ended and it's been over two months they should have paid according to their own terms of service and they are not paying.

      They have delayed the payment with a number of excuses and now not even giving a reason, just not paying.

      Hope this clarifies it and don't hesitate to PM me if you need more details.

      Thanks!
      • Profile picture of the author GMD
        GMD
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        Originally Posted by ak2000 View Post

        Hi GMD,

        It's a Clickbank-style payment processor (it's not Clickbank, paypal nor a direct credit card / merchant account payment processor). They are a 3rd party vendor who just like CB process payments on behalf of product vendors and pay the vendor the sum of sales minus fees, refunds etc on a regular basis.

        What happened is that we have been working with them since early July, clearance period ended and it's been over two months they should have paid according to their own terms of service and they are not paying.

        They have delayed the payment with a number of excuses and now not even giving a reason, just not paying.

        Hope this clarifies it and don't hesitate to PM me if you need more details.

        Thanks!
        Thanks for coming back and posting this information -- it does help. Now, before everybody gets on the "consult with an attorney" bandwagon, realize that you're not there yet.

        The first, and obvious, thing you need to do is carefully document why you're owed this money. Establish via their terms and service, payment schedule, and other payment related agreements on their site that there's NO QUESTION you've met their standards and are due the funds.

        In other words, establish that you've earned said commissions exactly as per their terms.

        With that out of the way, the next thing you need to do is look at their terms and conditions and find the wording that deals with "disputes" -- agree or not, when you clicked "I accept" to join the program, you agreed to whatever procedure that they have in place dealing with disputes such as what you have at present.

        That could mean that you must engage in binding arbitration (thus limiting your potential legal paths), it could mean that you can only file suit in their jurisdiction. It could mean a lot of things.

        TIP: Binding arbitration is not necessary a bad thing! First, the arbitration can be conducted over the phone or even via Skype. So you wouldn't have to physically appear. Second, if your case is as clear cut as you claim, an arbitrator would likely see it your way and the other company would be bound by the arbitrator's decision. The rub of course is who gets to chose the arbitration service? Who pays for it? Again, see the company's terms on this.

        Next, continue your background research with the company itself: are they experiencing financial difficulties? Technical difficulties? After an online search are you able to find complaints (formal and informal) against the company similar or exactly as yours? Information you learn here could determine, as well, your next steps. For example, if they are experiencing financial difficulties, what are your chances of getting the money out them?

        Explore the "excuses" they were giving you as to why they haven't paid. First, excuses aside, they're implying that YES you are owed the money but can't/won't pay because of XXXX. Document those excuses carefully and add them to your "case file" that you're building.

        Answers to the above will determine your next course of action.

        Thus would a debt collection agency help? No. The debt collection agency -- should they even take your account -- will either offer pennies on the dollar to "buy" the debt (they probably won't because this company who owes you the money is not an easy "mark") or the debt collection agency will take your case and send the company a letter.

        The letter will basically say they are owed a "debt". The company would then have 30 days to reply and dispute the "debt". The company would probably dispute the debt and even question if it's a "valid" debt further making the issue more complicated than most debt collection agencies are willing or able to deal with. I'd stay away from the "debt collection" agency route. It's expensive and most likely ineffective in your case.

        Next, and this depends on their "dispute" clause, you could hire a civil or general practice attorney in the jurisdiction of the company that owes you money and file a simple small claims case (the amount owed to you will determine if you could even file a small claims case, however).

        Due to you being overseas, an attorney would be allowed to argue a small claims case on your behalf. This is where your paperwork comes in. If you can clearly establish that you've met their terms for payment and have not received payment, it's likely you'd win a judgement for the amount.

        If you were able to get a court date and the company did not send somebody to court, you'd win the case by summary judgement / default.

        At that point the court would issue a judgement for full amount owed and in most case attorney's fees as well if you asked for them in your suit. At that point your attorney would take the judgement and attempt to collect the funds for you -- again that whole scenario depends on the legal agreement between you and the processor company. Such a suit may not be allowed under the terms you agreed to (and it would be expensive to challenge the validity of the agreement -- refer to all the cases involving individuals and classes suing Paypal regarding their "disputes" clause).

        Action you could take now:

        1. Do the research outlined above.

        2. Compose a polite, authoritative, readable letter/email to the company's CEO or president outlining that you're a loyal customer/client, there must be an oversight of some kind and before you consider your legal options and making the situation very public, you'd like to receive your commissions as per the agreement between you and their company. Note as well that you'd like a reply within "a reasonable" amount of time.

        There's a chance this could initiate action -- if it does, fine, you get your money back. If it doesn't, that's fine as well. Why? This letter and their lack of a reply (or a reply that blows you off) is more legal ammunition in a court of law).

        I'd try the above first.

        If that doesn't work, I'd attempt a judgement via small claims court in the company's jurisdiction (it wouldn't be hard to locate an attorney online in your needed jurisdiction).

        Again, the key here is to do some basic research and that will clarify what your future actions needs to be -- but regardless of if you think you did or not, do some digging into the company and contact THEIR LEADERSHIP.

        Hope some of this helps or gives you ideas.

        NOTE: I've touched on several topics here, stuff has been left out because it's more complicated than it appears -- there's loop holes, there's details, there's several other issues at play here. I'm offering friendly advice here and by no means am I offering legal advice as your attorney in this matter.
        • Profile picture of the author ak2000
          ak2000
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          Originally Posted by GMD View Post

          Thanks for coming back and posting this information -- it does help. Now, before everybody gets on the "consult with an attorney" bandwagon, realize that you're not there yet.

          The first, and obvious, thing you need to do is carefully document why you're owed this money. Establish via their terms and service, payment schedule, and other payment related agreements on their site that there's NO QUESTION you've met their standards and are due the funds.

          In other words, establish that you've earned said commissions exactly as per their terms.

          With that out of the way, the next thing you need to do is look at their terms and conditions and find the wording that deals with "disputes" -- agree or not, when you clicked "I accept" to join the program, you agreed to whatever procedure that they have in place dealing with disputes such as what you have at present.

          That could mean that you must engage in binding arbitration (thus limiting your potential legal paths), it could mean that you can only file suit in their jurisdiction. It could mean a lot of things.

          TIP: Binding arbitration is not necessary a bad thing! First, the arbitration can be conducted over the phone or even via Skype. So you wouldn't have to physically appear. Second, if your case is as clear cut as you claim, an arbitrator would likely see it your way and the other company would be bound by the arbitrator's decision. The rub of course is who gets to chose the arbitration service? Who pays for it? Again, see the company's terms on this.

          Next, continue your background research with the company itself: are they experiencing financial difficulties? Technical difficulties? After an online search are you able to find complaints (formal and informal) against the company similar or exactly as yours? Information you learn here could determine, as well, your next steps. For example, if they are experiencing financial difficulties, what are your chances of getting the money out them?

          Explore the "excuses" they were giving you as to why they haven't paid. First, excuses aside, they're implying that YES you are owed the money but can't/won't pay because of XXXX. Document those excuses carefully and add them to your "case file" that you're building.

          Answers to the above will determine your next course of action.

          Thus would a debt collection agency help? No. The debt collection agency -- should they even take your account -- will either offer pennies on the dollar to "buy" the debt (they probably won't because this company who owes you the money is not an easy "mark") or the debt collection agency will take your case and send the company a letter.

          The letter will basically say they are owed a "debt". The company would then have 30 days to reply and dispute the "debt". The company would probably dispute the debt and even question if it's a "valid" debt further making the issue more complicated than most debt collection agencies are willing or able to deal with. I'd stay away from the "debt collection" agency route. It's expensive and most likely ineffective in your case.

          Next, and this depends on their "dispute" clause, you could hire a civil or general practice attorney in the jurisdiction of the company that owes you money and file a simple small claims case (the amount owed to you will determine if you could even file a small claims case, however).

          Due to you being overseas, an attorney would be allowed to argue a small claims case on your behalf. This is where your paperwork comes in. If you can clearly establish that you've met their terms for payment and have not received payment, it's likely you'd win a judgement for the amount.

          If you were able to get a court date and the company did not send somebody to court, you'd win the case by summary judgement / default.

          At that point the court would issue a judgement for full amount owed and in most case attorney's fees as well if you asked for them in your suit. At that point your attorney would take the judgement and attempt to collect the funds for you -- again that whole scenario depends on the legal agreement between you and the processor company. Such a suit may not be allowed under the terms you agreed to (and it would be expensive to challenge the validity of the agreement -- refer to all the cases involving individuals and classes suing Paypal regarding their "disputes" clause).

          Action you could take now:

          1. Do the research outlined above.

          2. Compose a polite, authoritative, readable letter/email to the company's CEO or president outlining that you're a loyal customer/client, there must be an oversight of some kind and before you consider your legal options and making the situation very public, you'd like to receive your commissions as per the agreement between you and their company. Note as well that you'd like a reply within "a reasonable" amount of time.

          There's a chance this could initiate action -- if it does, fine, you get your money back. If it doesn't, that's fine as well. Why? This letter and their lack of a reply (or a reply that blows you off) is more legal ammunition in a court of law).

          I'd try the above first.

          If that doesn't work, I'd attempt a judgement via small claims court in the company's jurisdiction (it wouldn't be hard to locate an attorney online in your needed jurisdiction).

          Again, the key here is to do some basic research and that will clarify what your future actions needs to be -- but regardless of if you think you did or not, do some digging into the company and contact THEIR LEADERSHIP.

          Hope some of this helps or gives you ideas.

          NOTE: I've touched on several topics here, stuff has been left out because it's more complicated than it appears -- there's loop holes, there's details, there's several other issues at play here. I'm offering friendly advice here and by no means am I offering legal advice as your attorney in this matter.
          Thanks for the amazing advice GMD. Very detailed and helpful. They are defaulting on payment on a number of vendors (not just us) but I can't seem to find any piece of news on them about them being in financial difficulty or similar...

          Will do some more digging...and thanks again!
          • Profile picture of the author GMD
            GMD
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            Originally Posted by ak2000 View Post

            Thanks for the amazing advice GMD. Very detailed and helpful. They are defaulting on payment on a number of vendors (not just us) but I can't seem to find any piece of news on them about them being in financial difficulty or similar...

            Will do some more digging...and thanks again!
            If you could, think you could PM me the name of the company?

            You've got my assurances that I won't share the name with anybody privately on the forum or publicly in the forum as well.

            I'm confident that I will be able to find out some more information about the company and their situation. Of course I'll pass that information on to you privately with any other concrete thoughts that I might have on the subject.

            Thanks!
  • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
    kindsvater
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    It is best to locate an attorney in the state where the processor is located. For instance, my law office is in California. That way, if litigation needs to be filed, the attorney is licensed in the state and can more easily pursue a case.

    .
    • Profile picture of the author ak2000
      ak2000
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      Originally Posted by kindsvater View Post

      It is best to locate an attorney in the state where the processor is located. For instance, my law office is in California. That way, if litigation needs to be filed, the attorney is licensed in the state and can more easily pursue a case.

      .
      Agreed, thanks!

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