Wage Assignment - Sonic Payday

So, she revoked any wage assignment; however, she only emailed it, correct? Did she not keep a copy of the letter? Actually, she should have emailed it/faxed it/and mailed it certified. However, that's not an issue since we've passed that point now. She did not keep a printed copy of the email though? Now, they sent a wage assignment for 1/2 the amount. Odd. Maybe they are "settling" for 1/2 the debt. However, her employer is aware that this wage assignment is totally voluntary, correct? They do not have to honor it. Especially since it is an illegal company. Now, I would personally (if I were your friend) send a letter revoking any wage assignment signed - period. I wouldn't state "any further wage assignments" or anything like that at all. Just the revoke wage assignment letter. Email it/fax it/mail it certified to them. And make sure this time to keep a copy and give a copy to her employer. I understand one has already reached her employer, and I'm praying to God they do not honor it. However, if I were her, I would send another letter revoking it. Total. The whole deal. Just the simple "I revoke any wage assignment I may have signed with your company, your partners, and any affiliates." I'm sorry she didn't keep a hard copy. And, I'm also sorry they're doing this to her. Been there, done that. Ask her to just send another letter stating total revoke. And please tell me that her employer is not going to honor it!

Sends shivers down my spine everytime I read about someone getting hit with a wage assignment. I hope her employer doesn't honor it.

Who you telling?!? Lordy, Lordy, Lordy.........

Her employer is the same as mine. We both work for a law firm. From what I understand, the Firm Administrator is not going to honor the wage assignment for 1/2 of the debt which she received by fax today from Sonic Payday. According to my friend, the administrator is the one who advised her to send another e-mail and fax a copy of it to Sonic indicating that she had previously revoked this wage assignment and is once again revoking any wage assignment. My friend cannot find a copy of the e-mail in her records but she did inform the Administrator of this situation before the wage assignment came in so she was aware of it. I guess she will know tomorrow if the company will honor the wage assignment. My guess is that they are not going to honor it but wont' know for sure until tomorrow. As for the 1/2 amount, I am a little confused about that. Evidently, our firm administrator contacted Sonic Payday and they advised that they had sent two Wage assignments with that fax but only one was received so the administrator is only working off of one wage assignment.

Let us know what happens.

ctr, odd that they sent two separate wage assignments. When I was slapped with one, it was for the full amount of the loan PLUS some. They didn't send two separate ones. Hell, they just sent one BIG one. Please keep us updated as to the status of this. Your administrator sounds like they know what's going on. Good for your friend for bringing it to their attention before the wage assignment was sent. Please keep us updated.

ctr-What state are you in? There are certain steps, per state, that need to be fulfilled in order to make the wage assignment valid by law even if
there is a shadow of a doubt that you and your friends employer might consider honoring it.

Yes, as Volley said, there are specific laws pertaining to wage assignments. Most pdl's don't follow these laws when doing a wage assignment. Especially since you work for a lawyer, I think being able to show them a law in black and white may help stop them from possibly taking this money.

Arizona is the State

According to our HR department head, they will most likely not honor their request. My friend was concerned that they sent one to them and she never signed a wage assignment with this company. However, when she met with our HR head, they showed her a Wage assignment she signed back in 2004 to coastline credit but since then northway is the new company for sonic is my understanding. As I did not have this issue with sonic and was able to resolve my situation, i am not familiar with what she has to do. I think our lawfirm will help her out and not honor it. She does have a complaint on file with teh AG's office and the Arizona DFI who advised that since they are not licensed in arizona, she has not obligation to pay any of the amount borrowed back. In any event, with the fees she has been charged, she has paid most if not all of this back to them and then some.

Holy crap! :shock: This is a wage assignment from 2004, which was for a different company name? How the hell long does a "wage assignment" last for? Forever? And how about it being under a different name? Even if Sonic/Cash Transfer/whoever is now the company name? Does this make a difference whatsoever? Since the wage assignment was for a different company name? I mean, can Cash Transfer Centers come to me 3 years from now (again) and send a wage assignment from 2007 under a different name? What's up with this?

That is my questions. Evidently Coastline used to be the parent company of Sonic Payday when they were located in the Republic of Ireland. Since then Coastline has ceased to exist and Northway Credit Corp. is now the parent company of Sonic Payday and they are out of the Republic of Malta. Go figure. What is even worse is that according to my friend, when she spoke with E-Credit Services, the gal she spoke with assured her that they did not have a wage assignment for her, which would make sense. Since the wage assingment was in 2004 and for another company. She cannot for the life of her find that e-mail she sent to Sonic.....but she knows that she sent one and I know she sent one because I helped her compose it.

The only stuff I can find right now about wage assignments for Arizona have to do with child support . . . Not much help here!

I'm glad your employer isn't going to go through with it!

Thanks Goudah. That is all I could find with regards to wage assignements in Arizona as well. From what i can gather, Arizona, other than child support wage assignments, requires a order of garnishment first before wages can be taken from your paycheck but we are checking on that issue.

From what I understand, our HR director has advised my friend that they most likely will not go through with it but she has not been given a definite answer on this one as of yet. I'm sure they won't go through with it. In any event, I thought it was odd that they wage assignment was for only half of what she owed them. Is that normal? I would of thought it would be for the full amount! In any event, she did sent another letter yesterday afternoon to Sonic via e-mail and facsimile addressing that she had previously revoked any wage assignment she may have agreed to when she took our her loan. I believe that if the other half of the wage assignment is sent today that should take care of it right? I'm not sure as my issue with Sonic was resolved without this issue happening. Any advice I can pass on to her would be greatly appreciated.

If your friend sent out another letter addressed to the "correct" company name and just state revoking any wage assignment, that should cover it. I'm just totally amazed that they sent this 3 year old wage assignment with a different company name to try to take money from her now. Plus the fact that the amount is incorrect. These factors alone should make your employer step back and say "Hold on. Now how legal could this possibly be?" To me, this isn't even worth them getting "approval" on. It should go in the garbage. 3 year old signed document for a voluntary wage assignment, incorrect loan amount, and different company name. Now, honestly, does this spell LEGAL to you???

I agree with you Cannr. I believe our HR person just wants to make sure that all their T's are crossed and I's dotted. Yes, I am confused. The wage assignment she signed in 2004 was for Coastline Credit Corp, which was the parent of Sonic Payday but in the last year, from what I can see and to my recollection, Northway Corp. was the name that the payments came out of. As I find out more information, I will advise you. Thanks to all for your advice.

ctr, please let us know how this turns out. I'm so curious. This is the weirdest wage assignment situation I've come across so far. Just goes to show you - we'll never know everything these companies try to pull!

I will and congratulations on becoming a Moderator!

Thank you! :D

I was told by my co-worker, the one with the Sonic Payday issue that the HR Department is going to hold that money, $551.00 until the dispute is resolved. They are going to contact the company and advise the same. She tried to give our HR department the wage assignment recision for any future amounts that come in but the HR Administrator said she did not need to do that. I am so Confused

Hold onto wages? wow....a call to the labor board is in order for this one.

Sorry, I thought I had signed in but evidently not. the response from Guest is from me.

What dispute?? A wage assignmennt is voluntary. You revoked it? No dispute.

kash...long story on this one. Employer not being cooperative and I think its a lack of knowledge on behalf of the empployer. Withholding the wages to cover thier A$$.

But I agree 100%...no dispute. The PDL will battle this until the cows come home!

I agree. So I explained to my co-worker to speak with my attorney at the office who is a consumer affairs and wage and hour attorney and give her the story on this matter. You are right, the wage assignment is voluntary and the company can either say yes or no to the wage assignment. I am very confused and I feel for my friend because now the HR head wants to know who she is speaking to at the AG's office, name and number which I believe is very intrusive and not anyones business. I am so surprised by the decision of our HR head. The company is illegal, it is not licensed in any state. They are based out of the Republic of Malta. If they were to try to validate the debt they could not. I don't see the issue?

It really is not up to the company to say yes or no to a wage assignment. It is the employees right to revoke it, and the employer needs to understand that. Once a wage assignment is revoked it should end there

I feel for your friend too....this is frustrating especially when the evidence is stacked in her favor.

I have to jump in here and agree that a telephone call needs to be made to the state labor board. What the hell "they're holding the money"??? You've GOT to be kidding me. Your friend has more in her favor than she even needs and your company is still doing this? Labor board.

I agree Cannr. Also, I am confused why our HR department head wants a contact at the AG's office regarding her complaint. That seems so odd and in any event the AGs office will not release any information to them. Go figure.

Your HR manager is a nut job! It's not the HR managers "job" to delve into the personal business with the AG. Like you stated, the AG isn't going to tell your HR manager squat. If I was your friend, I do believe steam would be coming out of my ears right about now. I find this amazing. Especially since this is a LAW FIRM you work at! Hello! How can they not realize all this?

You and I both. I find it extremely troubling. I have a call into my attorney at the office to discuss. I am surprised by this but then again, at this point, nothing would surprise me anymore. I just don't get it.

Please let us know what's going on. This is insane. I'm anxious to hear what your attorney has to say regarding all of this mess.

I will.

Wow. I am an HR rep, maybe I can jump in here.
First of all, in all states in the US wage assignments are legal. Unfortunately, it IS indeed up to the company whether to honor them or not. My husband has the same job as I do, but at a different company. His company Does not honor wage assignments unless they are court ordered. Yes..There are court ordered wage assignments, not to be confused with garnishments, but rarely if ever are they on a consumer debt, and I won't get into those here..My company does honor them, however.
Here's where things get tricky and unfair. Ok..If I got a wage assignment on an employee, I AM NOT required to notify the employee. I can simply deduct the monies and give them a smaller check. I would not do that, because it is not ethical in my opinion, but lets be honest..If I was doing payroll and cutting checks for 2000 people, I might not be able to notify the employee of the assignment.
It is always always always your right to revoke the assignment. You know what? In order to revoke one, you don't even have to send a copy to the PDL. It's not important! As long as HR has a signed and DATED letter of defense, a PDL does not need a copy. Period.
I am shocked that this assignment is being broken up. That's unusual. Yes, you can surely attempt to revoke the remainder..But I don't know how your HR dept payroll system is set, you may not be successful. Also, I think an attorney is a huge waste of money, because these things are legal.
Sorry to ramble. If you have any detailed questions, please pm me. I definitely sort this out for you, especially if you can describe the assignment for me.

So fins, heres a question, what about the individual state stipulations that the wage assignment has to meet in order to be valid? For example, a stipulation in my state (one of many) says that the spouse has to also sign it for it to be considered legal.

Really? That's incredible! That's also unusual, I think..We have no stipulations here in Michigan. When I'm back at work tomorrow I can easily find out what's what in Arizona. Basically, here in the midwest, it just has to be written a certain way..I.E all info in first 3 paragraphs, account number or ssn boldly at the top..These are so stupid. You know, it's mainly rent to own places that use them..

Aww man, I need to go rent a TV for superbowl then not return it. shucks!

LOL! I think they can actually come and repo the tv! How embarrasing would that be?

HAHA! Can you imagine, me at the door "Noooo you cant come in!"

could they push their way in??

Nope! I am going to roll a dresser and a steamer trunk beinnd the door so they cant push it open!

fins. What is so unusual is that the law firm is not going to send the money to the company, they are going to hold that amount until such time as the issue is resolved. As we all know, the PDL will fight forever and it may be a cold day in ..... until there is a resolution. My thought is either pay the company or give the money back to the employee......

fins, thanks for jumping in! I knew you'd be the one to help! Can you possibly find anything regarding this particular situation in this state posted? And CAN they "hold" the money???

Wow. This is nuts.
Apparently in the state of Arizona they cannot hold money in limbo like this. Honestly, I don't think we can do that here either, it's a ridiculous concept..why on earth would you? If I was the HR lady here, I would simply revoke the damn thing! I am going to do some searching at work tomorrow, I've never heard of such a thing!! Someone could get into trouble here!
This is a guess..Don't quote me..But I would think your HR person could be subject to a helluva fine for this. You can't just deduct money and keep it! That is unethical! Is there by some chance some sort of cafeteria plan?

That is my point. Our HR does not realize the issue here. We work at the same law firm but she does not understand the wage and hour laws of our state. Go figure. That is why my attorney, who is a wage and hour expert will be up in arms about this. This puts our firm in a very percarious position.

It's obvious HR doesn't understand! I am so sorry..They can't get away with this for long...

ctr, with luck, fins can find something regarding your state. This is just nuts. Of course, we all learn something new on this site. This is a "first" for this type of situation.

UNREAL!!!

$5000 fine! OMG!!!!!

LOL, I will find something! I am all fired up over this one!

Thanks. I will let you know what happens tomorrow. Thanks.