I am being sued by internet PDL Tremont

Did you originally take the loan when you were in South Dakota? Check the fine print from Tremont. It will mention the state where the case will be filed in case of a dispute. Usually, the legal actions take place in the state where the borrower resides.

Their chances of winning the case is more if they prove your inability to pay the debt and you are not working out any payment arrangements. In that case, your wages could be garnished.

Your best move will be to call Tremont and set up a repayment plan.

no i took out the loan over the internet and i live in California, in the fine print it sais that they may file a small claims suit in South Dakota. They will not make any arrangements with me they want the full amount by the court date. which is june 13

Have you been served papers all the way from South Dakota? How were you notified? Even if they win by default it will be non collectible because you live in California and the loan was taken out on the internet. They are bound by the law in the state in which they are doing business, in your case California. They can't get a court order in South Dakota to garnish you wages in Ca. Unless there is some strange reciprocal agreement between the two States which is highly unlikely. There are several lawyers on this forum. One of you please correct me if I am wrong.

The absolute first thing I would do is contact the California Attorney General and give them all the documentation you have. I have been told he is taking a very hard stance on pdl internet companies.

I was notified certified mail by the small claims court in south dakota after talking to the clerk again she has said that i am obligated to explain in writing the validity of the suit and request to testify by phone. Tremont has assured me that they do this all of the time to get a court to garnish my wages in California. On there website they state that they are doing buisness in South Dakota and will go by these laws and if you do not agree do not proceed.....wish i could go back and relive this stupid little mistake......and not proceed.

Again I ask you contact your Attorney general.He has outlawed quite a few of these companies.You may find they cannot touch you.

what information do i give the Attorney General?

I stopped payment after the first ACH when i realised that they had only taken out the $175 when i owed $350 i called and asked them why they hadnt taken the full amount and they said that they would the next pay day in the tune of $400. Thats when i decided to close my account before they did that, and then there was no reasoning with them. Guess i should have paid the $400 now it looks like i am being sued in small claims for $600 and court costs and aggravation. I dont have any paper work and Tremont will not send, fax or email the original contract the only thing i have is the generic on the web site and i am almost positive that my original didnt say anything about having to notifiy them that i wanted to pay the full amount of the loan before the due day.

Cajun
Being from California I am sure you have had good luck with the AG.. Please tell me who there has helped you because I have had zero luck and I also live in Cal.. They pushed mine off to the DOF and did asign a agent I was told that they would handle but as far as helping me I should get a lawyer.. SO please tell me who helped you or told you that California was helpful as you State that above in your post..
I sure could use the help...

edwtoo and Poptartsmom, I don't have much help to offer but I wanted to say I am sorry you guys are having problems :(

will Tremont be able to get a wage garnishment? from a small claims court in South Dakota? Has nobody else ever been sued by Tremont?

kscornell is the one that told me about Ca. Ag being agressive towards pdls.Perhaps yall could contact her directly.

I'm sorry to hear this. This is really the first time that I've heard of an internet lender taking someone to small claims court. I'm also surprised they won't make payment arrangements with you. I'm really not familiar with California laws but you can go to paydayloaninfo.org to check on the laws. As far as garnishment, I always believed it had to be in the county where you resided to go through the court system. At least it's how it is here. I would also follow up with a complaint to the AG in California.

Mishele this is the first time I have heard of it too!!! I guess this is a reality check for all of us....that some of these places WILL take you to court. edwtoo, follow the advice that you have been given. Something about this does not sound right to me.

It figures that i would be the first to get this...everyone keeps saying that they cant do that but i am learning that they can.

The thing is i am very sure that the loan i was getting was a loan that would not rollover and once it did i was very surprised and when i talked to Tremont they said that they are sorry but i was supposed to notify them that i wanted to pay off the loan in full so when they wanted another $400 i closed my account and did the wait and see thing which was bad Tremont tried the wage attatchment route but i notified my payroll that i was cancelling my wage attatchment and Tremont said no problem they will get a court order. And now they are suing,

I will be trying to fight them in small claims court to maybe get it reduced and make them accept payments by Mail. Why do PayDay loan companies not want to take payment by mail or even send anything by mail.

Well I bet they are counting on winning by default because you live so far away....Do you still have a copy of the original contract? I would try to locate anything...also wouldn't they have to make payment arrangements with you before they could sue? this seems very fishy to me....

ED, Cajun is exactly right. Contact the Attorney General and explain the situation. At least they will be able to tell you if this company can sue you or not. Also check the Secretary of States website to see if they are licensed there. Poptartsmom has had no luck with the Ag there. These internet companies will tell you everything and you need some good sound advice on this one. Attorney Generals office Consumer Division and Secretary of States Office its worth a try. Best Wishes KYSIDE38

Payday loan companies want to be guaranteed there money on schedule. If they agree to mailed payments you can mail them anytime you feel like it which is not good enough for them. The usually want Western Union or that other one whose name slips me at the moment. I am so glad I live in Florida after hearing your plight. They can't garnish here. I still have my doubts that they can garnish from another state. Where are the attorneys that usually chime in here? We need your help guys. Have you contacted your local court to see if they would honor an out of state small claims ruling. Have you requested a posponement? Can you file an appeal in California and make them come there and fight it?

They don't want to take payments by the mail because they are operating illegally and they don't want to be traced. Moneygram, that's the other one you were thinking of, frogpatch. Not only do they want to charge exorbitant amounts of interest, but they want to penalize you after they can't access your bank account anymore by making you PAY to send them money!!! One of these places told my coworker that they could not even take Western Union or Moneygram because then they would have to pay someone to go pick the money up and that would just be too expensive for their company. Whatever.....I feel SO sorry for them!!!

It is months after I sent an email to these people revoking their ACH priviledges and they replied 3 times. "We cannot stop the ACH withdrawals, There will be three attempts each time." I just got a notice from my bank that they tried again. I would like to send them a letter telling them that I am filing with the Attorney General and the FTC against them but I can't find an address for them. I know they are registered in Utah. I can't call them because the first thing they ask is for my SS# to open my file. I don't want to discuss my case with some snippy little collection weasel. If I email them I just get the same response in weaselspeak. I anyone has ever corresponded with them please let me know. They operate under the name "Loan Point USA."

I wish I had contact info for them to give you. Hopefully someone will come along with that information. And for the record frogpatch, you crack me up. I mean that in a good way. "Snippy little collection weasel." :)

Its odd that they would have to sue you. I got caught up with them, and they sent my payroll dept. the voluntary wage garnishment that I never revoked. My payroll department just processed it, and while it was annoying, at least they are paid and I'm done with them. Did they try this route with you before suing you?

Loan Point USA is Geneva Roth. They are horrible, and nasty and will debit your bank account a million different times to try and get money..they will use different names, different amounts and it sucks.

Ok let me ask this question..it may seem dumb but Did you personally contact the South Dakota court systems? I mean not using the number sent on the paper you received in the mail? The reason I ask is because we have all seen these places stoop pretty low to scare people...

Quote:

Yes i have contacted the courts and i have been able to get the original loan documents and it states

YOUR PAYMENT SCHEDULE will be: One (1) payment of $455.00 due on 1/12/2007, unless apply for and are approved to refinance your loan. To request refinancing you must apply and submit a deferral request at least three business days before your loan is due. We are not obligated to grant you deferral. You must meet our criteria beforwe a deferal is granted.

On 1/12/07 Tremont took from my checking account $175.00 which i then called and asked them why they had not taken the full amount and they said because i had not called and asked them to and they said that they would take the full amount the next pay day of $455.00. I told her no you are not because i dont owe that much and she then told me that i had only paid the interest and that theyu would take the 455.00 the next payment if i wanted them to.

I then closed my checking account and then denied them the wage attatchment my guess is that they will get a judgment against me because i have not paid the 455.00 then they will use the court judgment and send it to my employer and try and get them to do a wage attatchment ???? i am going to fight them though and send the balance that i owe and see if i can fight the court cost.

the legal amount i owe $280.00 not 455 plus court cost.

I would do that.... also contact your states attorney general...see what they have to say

I also live in California and can tell you what I know about the PDL laws in our state: the max interest they can charge for starters is only 15 percent, which is why you see storefronts here only loaning $255 and having you write the payback check for $287.50.
I also believe the max that can be loaned, if I'm not mistaken is $300. I would also check the Dept of Corporations website to see if Tremont Financial is licensed or not. As a matter of fact, I am going to do that now...BRB.

Just went to the Dept of Corporations website for CA and have discovered that this company is not licensed to do business in California. Since you do not nor have ever lived in South Dakota, I would advise you to fight this with every cell in your being.

This is what they're gonna do . . . they file the lawsuit in SD knowing you aren't going to go there and fight it. Then they get a default. Now Tremont isn't going to do things properly which would mean to hire a California attorney and bring a second lawsuit to enforce the SD judgment. They're just going to send a copy of the SD judgment to your employer and ask him to garnish it from your wages. Since it's a court order, your employer won't want to run any risks so he'll probably just comply. At least that's what they're counting on.

So what should you do -

1) File your own small claims action against them in California for overcharging you. Since they went to court they waived any arbitration clause in your contract. Besides they won't even fight. In addition to money, ask for a court order "denying effect to any foreign judgment rendered regarding the alleged loan." (My brother in-law, the amateur attorney, came up with that phrase.)

2) Let your employer know what's going on. It may be embarrassing in the short term but it's better than them getting your paycheck.

3) File complaints with the California Department of Corporations as well as the AG. Corporations licenses deferred-presentment transaction providers and has gotten very aggressive over the last few years.

Excellent, excellent, excellent, Freaky! I agree 1 thousand percent with this! I say call their bluff and they are counting on a free payday, which they aren't going to get!

Good luck fighting them ed. Don't back down. It sounds like they are counting on being smarter than you are and you not putting up a fight.

Please do not threaten to report them to the ag and ftc - DO IT! When you threaten it is just like the treats from many of the ca's and pdls - it doesnt hold water. And cc the pdl with the complaints.These places beleive that they are above the law so we have to use the laws to our advantage.

Here is my take on things.Most creditors threaten to sue either where contract started or your state of residence. I am unsure of California law,but most states state for a suit to be legal you must be sued in your state of residence.Pm Law Student,he is in Law School in California. I would file a letter to that court stating that since you do not live in South Dakota,the suit should be dismissed entirely and the company should be sanctioned for bringing an improper suit to their court house. You will demand dismissal with prejudice due to improper venue.

This is my thought as well Cajun, I am having problems trying to word the letter because i am not sure of how to word it exactly. Should i make it long or short and to the point your last sentence is very good.

There is wording in there web site that says that if they want they can bring a small claims suit in south dakota here is the quote from there web site

Non-Arbitration of Collections: Should the Borrower default on repayment of the loan and collection action is necessary, Lender may file a small claims action in Minnehaha County in South Dakota.

is this binding or even legal?

I found this info on the CA courts website -

Even if they are allowed to bring a suit in south dakota,the judgement would be completely useless until it has been domesticated in a california court.

So should i take the route that they are suing in the wrong court, i dont want to anger the Judge.

I don't think it would anger the judge, but it really isn't the "wrong" court. I think they can bring the suit in South Dakota, at least as a matter of procedure but they will need to bring a SECOND case in California to enforce any judgment. The danger is your boss will just see a judgement from A court and assume he has to do the garnishment. Most employers aren't going to go pay a lawyer to find out if a judgment counts or not. So get your employer in the loop if you can.

i have told them, and she said that she will have to do the garnishment if it is a court order. I called the clerk for South Dakota and she said that they will not garnish for a ruling that it is up to the plaintiff to collect his money. So i guess i am at plan B which is to ask for a telephone appearance and argue that Tremont should have taken the full amount on the due date. Not just the interest and that they shouldnt be awarded anything more then the amount i borrowed.

That's the problem. A South Dakota judge has no authority in California so your boss can legally ignore anything they send (unless they get a California court to domesticate the judgment). But very few bosses would know this on their own, let alone be willing to get in the middle of something like this. And they definitely aren't going to reach into their own pockets to pay a lawyer to tell them what's what.

Here's my take on it. Based on the law that Goudah has cited, it seems like they will make the argument that if they are doing business in South Dakota, they were technically hurt in South Dakota. However, you can also make the claim that since you live in California and have never set foot in South Dakota, they were technically doing business in California (where they are not licensed, btw). Based on that premise, they lose, because they were doing business illegally and would be better off to just take your payment, like they should have done in the first place.
A South Dakota judge is not a member of the California Bar, and will know that they can not issue legal garnishments for California.

This is way beyond my realm of knowledge so I don't have anything else to add but I think that kscornell is right. I am not sure what to do about your employer but if you get this lawsuit thrown out then you won't have to worry about that.

Thanks, Sass--but I think that we really need Law Student here! Hope he's home from school!!

You're welcome ks....and you are right...LawStudent is GOOD, he really knows his stuff! But I really do think you gave some good advice there. I was at a complete loss :(

This isn't about what the judge will do. It's about what Tremont does with the judgment. They will mail a copy of the judgment to the employer with a letter requesting it be paid from the borrower's wages. It isn't "legal" but it looks official and most employers are fooled by it.

If the employer garnishs on an invalid legal instrument,they will be on the hook to pay back their employee along with any additional damages employee suffered because of their actions. Out of state judgements mean absolutely nothing to another state until they are domesticated.

And hopefully, some HR clerk won't be fooled by this! I still don't feel good about it--too easy to screw up...

Yeah that bothers me too because sometimes HR doesn't know any better either....I work for a major university and they almost gave my paycheck to Payday Avenue for a voluntary wage assignment!!!

They probably get overwhelmed with paper in that department and don't even think. And imagine all of the documents they lose, shiver...

Tell me about it! I needed a copy of a paycheck stub and requested it like 3 weeks ago and never received it....I had left a message with the hr admin asst.....well I emailed the payroll clerk Monday and she said she never heard anything about me needing it!! She said, it only takes a day or so....and I got it today. Had I not followed up, I would have never gotten it.....so I know now that I don't even trust HR.