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Palmer Reif ANd Assoc.

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hzajac13

Junior Member
Earlier this year iI was arrested for shoplifting in Mississippi. The case was non- judicated. I was told that if I stayed out of trouble it would be taken off my record. I received a letter from PR and Associates asking for 200 hundred dollars. I made arrangements and paid the money. I then received letter saying I failed to make payments. I called and gave them the dates and the amounts of the payments. I was told that I was 25 dollars short because the 12.50 fee does not go to my payment. I then payed them what they said was left over. A month later I received a letter saying I failed to make payments on plan I set up with them. And that I have to pay them 275 dollars in the next 10 days. I never made a plan to pay them 275 more dollars. What can I do?
 


ProSePA

Member
Palmer, Reif & Associates is the law firm that represents the store you shoplifted from. I would imagine they sent you a letter stating that do to the incident at (store name and number) which occurred on (date) they are able to recoup loses under (insert relevant statute). It would have then went on to say you had a time limit to make the payment of $200 or else they could pursue civil action against you which would result in higher costs. I am assuming they gave you the option of paying via credit card and that using that method would incur a $12.50 fee. Since that did not count towards the total due then you would have paid $187.50 towards the restitution. The next letter says you owe more then $12.50 because they are actually billing you for the time and resources that they used to send the bill. Basically, every time the firm has to do something regarding your incident they will pass the cost on to you.

It sounds like they charged you another $12.50 for the cost of having to tell you that you still owed the original $12.50. What you will want to do is provide them of proof that you paid the $25 within the time frame that gave you. The best way to do this is by getting bank statements with the transaction dates and copies of the letters.

The bigger problem is that the firm is trying to use its size and advantage over you as leverage to get you to just pay the money. The store you shoplifted from is entitled to the monetary amount of the item(s) you took and up to a certain amount of money in civil damages (usually around $150) all the additional money on top of that is going straight to the law firm. The law firm has control because they are the ones that issue you a final release of civil liability, so they essentially blackmail you into keep paying. You could just say no and not pay the additional money, but they'll likely keep sending letters with more and more added until they have to make a decision to pursue a civil claim.

My recomendation would be to try and prove that you paid the amount they requested within the time frame and to release you of civil liability. If this fails then I would try another tactic, which is a long shot, but may work. Basically, you can try and do what companies do to people that settle claims. Send PF&A a check for (Insert an enticing amount of money, say $40 to $70) and a letter stating that this money is to "constitute payment in full and release you of all civil liability in file (insert file number)" Make sure you send this certified mail, and send it to the office address, not a P.O. Box. PF&A likely did not send you the letters via certified mail, which is the way ALL legal matters should be sent so that receipt can be proven in court. Lastly, on the back of the check under the signature write the following in pen "Depositing of these funds constitutes payment in full and release of civil liability for file (insert file number). This tactic relies on the principle that a check is a signed agreement between two entities, basically like a contract. When you sign the bottom you have consented to your end of the contract, which is release of funds from the listed financial institution. When the other entity signs the back they have agreed to the terms listed.

Example: I once had American Airlines lose my luggage and they were not able to find it. I filed a claim listing the value of the items they lost. They sent me a check for the total amount that they were liable for. The check was oversized and on the back it stated that if I signed it I was releasing them of any and all potential civil liability in this matter.

The worst thing that can happen is that they refuse the check and mail it back to you. The best thing that can happen is they deposit it. You are out the amount of the check, but you now have a legal contract that releases you from future liability. Since all banks keep copies of the front and back of a check, you can ask for a copy of that and if they PF&A sends you another request for money you can just send the copy to them stating they settled the matter.
 

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