Westbury Ventures Nightmare - help??

Does your bank realize that this company is operating illegally?
It does not matter what the laws are where Westbury is, it is your states laaws that matter.

My bank essentially said, "You signed a contract with them that authorizes all ACH debits to repay the bad debt out of any account you hold now or in the future and they will pursue legal action if we pay your claim."

I want to bump this up, so that maybe someone can answer my questions or give me some guidance:)

Kira, I am going to bump this up too. I do know that Kash is right that your state pdl laws are what the company is bound to go by. I also believe you can revoke debit authorization to the pdls at any time. I would write them a letter revoking debit authorization to any account you have. There are a couple of people who are more banking "experts" than I that are on during the day and they should read this and be able to answer your questions. Hang in there.

Your bank is not a party to the agreement between you and Westbury, therefore they need to not make the decision to say "well you signed a contract" and tell you what you should be paying on and not paying on. If I go into the bank and say can you stop my mortgage ACH draft from my mortgage company, they do not have the grounds to tell me "well voleyballmom, you need to pay your mortgage".


Your account belongs to YOU not Westbury...go INTO the bank and talk to the branch manager. Tell them you did not authorize the debits and you have not been given proof by ANYONE to the contrary...period.

It is disappointing to hear that someone from the bank would take a verbal word of someone over the phone from Westbury and make a decision based on that.

i have gotten 2 threatening phone calls just this week from westbury. about 3 months ago, they kept trying to debit my savings acct, it did not pay, but i kept getting charges. i finally closed the acct, now they are calling me at work.
i hate it!

Kira...Volley is absolutely right. I stopped Westbury from debiting my account...my bank co-operated fully with me. It is your account and you can stop payment if your wish to do so. My bank did not question me about a contract or anything that is none of their business.
Mrs.Cool...did you ever take out a loan with Loanshop..Geneva Roth/Loanpoint USA/Xpress Cash...all these places are with Westbury and they have more...??

The only problem with stopping payment is that they use so many different names and amounts that they will get money. All ach need to be stopped just not theirs. actually the entire account needs to be closed just to be safe.

You're right Kashzan..closing the account is best. I was just stating what has worked for me. Westbury has tried to debit my account 5 times now in the last 6 months and my bank has referred to my stop payment and it has worked. Also I check my account two or three times a day on-line.

Laura, just be careful. I dont trust them at all. I also check my account a lot. Lucky for me I did not have Westbury.

What I've heard from so many people is that Wells Fargo is the worst bank to work with. And thus far, that has been my experience in trying to get them to help me with this situation.

When I was at the bank yesterday, the lady told me that Westbury told her they would fax her the contract that I signed. Of course, they have not. They also told her that they are affiliated with 140 different PDL lenders, FWIW.

I'm definitely not withdrawing my claim with the bank; especially since I haven't even seen a contract. But I am concerned that the WF lady (Angela) will do it for me without me knowing.

At this point, my biggest concern is the two IPDLs I have out now; I'm not going to have the money to pay them off until at least January, and I don't even know what to do. If WF won't close my account while it's in the negative, and they continue to pay Westbury, there's no way that the two IPDLs now will be able to get their money.

So if they try, and it bounces back, can I just pay them off in January or will I end up owing hundreds of dollars more than I would have?

Also, the bank told me that they won't put a hard block on my account while it's in the negative - they consider that closing the account.

Unbelievable . Do they realize that they are aiding an illegal company. You certainly can not keep dealing with this bank

kashzan,

I'm done "dealing" with them in the sense that I stopped my direct deposit from going into that account and instead opened an account at US Bank. But I guess I'm kind of on the fence about keeping after them in regards to the claim issue.

I haven't called to withdraw my claim, but I also haven't called today to check on the status - I guess I'm worried that they are going to tell me that Angela from the bank told them that it was not fraud so they've stopped processing it.

When I was at the actual bank with them yesterday, I spent an hour and a half (and I'm not exaggerating that) going around and around with them about this issue, with the lady's final words to me being "Well, you got yourself into this mess, dear." I was so disgusted after that comment that I just got up and left without another word.

Side note, the bank manager was conveniently absent yesterday, so I requested in the middle of my conversation with Angela that the bank manager call me - she said she'd see what she can do.

I asked her if she knew the banking laws and she said "Well, I don't know ALL the laws, but I do know if you signed a contract, they can legally take out all the money you owe them."

I asked her if she was aware of the legal status of this particular company, and she told me it was irrelevant.

I think you should file a complaint with the bbb and your states ag's office thats what i did and there willing to close my account

Quote:

Of course not - she spoke to someone from Westbury in front of me who told her they would fax over the contract to her. Of course, they haven't, and they won't and she emailed me today and told me I needed to contact them directly to get the contract. But to be perfectly frank, I have less interest in speaking to them than I do in knawing my own arm off.

They can not send an illegal contract to your bank. That is way they have not sent it.

Your bank does not have the grounds to "lecture" you....they are out of line.

They need to reverse the debit, close the account and be done with it.

So if I call them, and start citing laws to them (Westbury, I mean - not the bank), and provide them with my fax number, are they going to A) fax it to me and B) just tell me they don't have to comply with Arizona laws, etc.?

I've read the information on this site about AZ laws, but I'm still a little confused about what is legal/what isn't legal.

For example, they are trying to say I owe them $570 for a $300 loan...and that everything thing over $390 is not interest - it's re-fi fees.

Is that legal?

So I called Westbury and asked them to fax me a copy of my contract directly. Of course I had to talk to four different people only to end up with the person who originally answered the phone, but that's beside the point.

She said she would fax it to me, and instead faxed me and authorization to release information that has to be signed and notarized before they will fax me the contract.

Why in the world do I need to sign an authorization for them to release information about me...to me?!?!?! SHould I call them back?

Yet another question:

Since I now have these people's fax number (Westbury), should I send them any documentation? Letters saying I don't want them to debit my accounts now or in the future and that I want my $390 back?

If so, does anyone have the verbiage I should use and what process I should follow?

Kira -

Don't you have a copy of the contract? I thought that was standard practice.... Or was this online? In which case, could you find a copy on their site somewhere?

Kira, hang in there. Someone will get you the letter tomorrow and yes, fax it, mail it , email it send it carrier pigeon if you have to :lol:

To answer a few questions and some updates:

No, I don't have a copy of the original contract for the original payday loan that I supposedly took out last year that authorizes them to debit any account I'll ever have; it was an IPDL, and in asking Westbury for a copy of alleged contract, I got the Auth. to release information faxed instead. They did tell me I could get it online, but conveniently disconnected me when I asked where. When I called back, they hung up on me.

I've sent them a letter revoking all further debits by them and any affiliates or partners to any account I hold now or may hold in the future.

The BIG news is that I went in yesterday and deposited enough cash in my checking account at Wells Fargo to bring it to zero and was able to close my account with them this morning.

They indicated to me that NO transactions period can go through now that the account is closed and told me there was nothing pending. I don't believe anything I hear anymore, but I did try to login to my online banking website and got a message stating I had no open accounts to access, so that encourages me a little that the bank account is closed.

Now at this point, I'm going to have to come up with something to say to the two IPDL lenders that are expecting a extension fee to come out of my account on the 21st. Any guidance?

Wonderful! Glad to hear you were able to close the account!

If I recall correctly, Westbury got your new (now closed) account info because of the new IPDLS you have right? DO NOT give the new IPDLs your next new account info if you open one.


For the 2 PDL's that you want to pay on the 21st, make other arrangments..you can call them if you like to let them know, or send them a money order.

Follow The Federal Electronic Funds Transfer Act and you have the right to stop payment on a preauthorized ach. Your bank is out of line.

Right on, goudah! God, I love you! :D