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Unsolicited Check

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J

jolsonm

Guest
I own my own business and in May of 1999 I recieved an unsolicited check in the mail. I signed the check and deposited it into my account. Three years have gone by and our company has yet to be profitable. So I have not made all the payments on the unsolicited check. In July 2001, I recieved notice that a judgment was obtained and filed against me. Meanwhile congress has been working on an "Unsolicited Loan Consumer Protection Act" to amend the Truth in Lending Act.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:h.r.01058:

My question is this should I fight this judgment based on the proponderance of evidence of abuses by financial institutions?
 


Jeter

Member
A lawsuit based on the preponderance of evidence of abuse by financial institutions in this circumstance would be shaky at best. We're not talking about a SNL scam here. Although unsolicited checks can be misleading , I don't believe a judge would find you incompetant to understand what you engaged in by cashing that check. It would quicly become evident by your record of payments that you were aware that you activated a creditor agreement upon cashing it.

At the same time you are gambling on whether or not a consumer protection amendment will be passed as a law that could protect you.

Realize 2 things:
1-The law may not be passed
2-The law may be passed, however it may very well exclude past debts incurred through this means of lending.

Since you have a judgement against you, it's highly unlikely it will be overturned even if the bill does pass. Congress is not interested in sending the economy into a recessive state by refunding billions to those who gambled on legal, however, not so commendable credit instruments.

Your best bet would be to pay what you owe unless you decide to claim bankruptcy.

Jeter

[Edited by Jeter on 07-24-2001 at 10:52 PM]
 

JETX

Senior Member
Interesting situation. Obviously, your 'mindset' at the time that you deposited the 'unsolicited check' could be very important... and could determine whether you committed fraud (a serious charge) or not.

A very interesting situation that seems similar can be followed at the following link. Not only is it an interesting story, but it raises some very interesting issues.... like yours:
http://www.dnai.com/~pcombs/$$tablecontents.html
 

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