俺球隊大張的太太在新州開業行醫，前些日子被兩家狼狽為奸的美國公司欺詐。大張怒髮衝冠，義糞填鷹！欲借爪哥之筆來控訴一下萬惡的美帝舊社會。嘿嘿，沒說的，爪四哥為兄弟兩肋叉燒，噢不不，是兩肋插刀...現在就讓這兩家騙子公司現現形！提醒自己開業的老中們，千萬要小心，別被美國騙子騙進去。
張太診所從開業第一天起，一直接收信用卡付款。信用卡服務則全權交由 TD bank merchant service 負責。去年六月初，合同再次到期。看到TD的信用卡服務費用不斷上漲，張太有心離開TD，換一家收費低的公司。
這件事somehow讓張太的一個病人知道。他自告奮勇說自己就是一家信用卡服務公司 Ironwood Payments 的推銷員。如果張太鑒約 Ironwood Payments ，費用會比TD低得多。
張太對這個病人不是很感冒。因為他看病總不守時，付錢也總是拖延，所以沒打算鑒約他代理的 Ironwood Payments 。但架不住這位病人三番五次來診所推銷他的優惠計劃，最後居然還把他的manager帶來診所，誓事旦旦地證明他的優惠價全都是靠譜的。但是，若想要從 Ironwood Payments 拿到優惠價，張太不能再使用診所原有的刷卡機，必須要從 Ironwood Payments 的合伙人 “Northern Leasing Systems" 租用刷卡機，每月租金是$85。他們一再強調既使加上租金，每月的總費用也會比TD便宜很多！張太最終被他們的“誠心”打動，於是不再與TD續約，與 Ironwood Payments 以及 Northern Leasing Systems 鑑定了信用卡服務合同。
嘿嘿，本來以為撿了個便宜，結果改換門庭後第一個月賬單（錢已自動從張太賬戶拿走）來後一看，乖乖隆地咚。比原來在TD時貴了幾乎三倍！義糞填鷹，義糞填鷹呀！
於是張太先打電話找那個病人，這傢伙從此不接電話，從此也不來張太診斷看病，泥牛入海，杳無音信。找不到病人，就給 Ironwood Payments 打電話找他們經理。那個接線員總推說經理忙，敷衍了事。後來氣得張太沒辦法，讓前台一直打一直打直到把經理打出來接電話。花了無數精力，千呼萬喚屎出來！噢不不，是經理出來。這個經理一開始鐵嘴鋼牙不承認給張太優惠價，等張太把鑒的合同上的優惠價拿給她看時，她說下月會給做調整。
結果等到下月賬單來後一看，乖乖隆地咚！與上月沒區別，還是那麼高。義糞填鷹，義糞填鷹呀！
於是又給這個經理打電話，又是泥牛入海，又是費盡九牛二虎之力才找到她。她推說前段時間特別忙，發誓說從下月起會做調整。
結果等到下月賬單來後一看，乖乖隆地咚！與上月沒區別，還是那麼高。義糞填鷹，義糞填鷹呀！
於是又給這個經理打電話，又是泥牛入海，又是費盡九牛二虎之力才找到她。她發誓說下月一定做調整，退還多收的錢。
結果等到下月賬單來後一看，乖乖隆地咚！收費還是那麼高。但這個經理總算給了一點點退款，但連違約多收走的錢的1/5都不到！義糞填鷹，義糞填鷹呀！
Enough is enough，這次張太也不打電話找經理了，直接給她發封信退出合約，不再與騙子打交道！與此同時，張太把從 Northern Leasing Systems 租來的刷卡機也寄了回去，就當是花錢買個教訓，從此與騙子們一刀兩斷。
嘿嘿，意想不到的是，騙子還來了勁兒了。Northern Leasing Systems 收到張太退還的刷卡機後，就一直不斷打電話，寄信來騷擾。口口聲聲說張太鑒了合同，想要退出，必須要交$3600罰款！如果不交，會有嚴重後果blablala……
不怕騙子騙，就怕騙子得便宜賣乖瞎扯蛋。
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張太一氣之下，把兩家騙子公司一起告到 Federal Trade Commission 與紐約總檢察官治下 Consumer Frauds Bureau 那裡去了！讓騙子們嘗嘗騙人的惡果，嘿嘿！
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最後呢，俺把騙子公司欺詐的套路歸納總結如下：提醒自己開業的老中們，千萬要小心，別被美國騙子騙進去：
1. 騙子甲用優惠價引誘客戶加盟；
2. 騙子甲聲稱若想拿到優惠價，必須也要與騙子乙鑒約；
3. 鑒約後顧客發現被騙子甲欺騙，不退則已，若想退出，騙子乙則出面聲稱顧客違約，必須交納一大筆罰款方能退出。
4. 騙子甲與騙子乙坐地分贓後，繼續合夥去欺騙下一個顧客。
請大家都記住這兩個騙子公司：
Northern Leasing Systems，Inc.
419 East Main Street，Suite 102，Middletown，NY 10940
Ironwood Payments
2150 South 1300 East，Suite 500，
Salt Lake City， Utah 84106
備註-1. 被義糞填的鷹的抗議：
沒招誰沒惹誰，莫名其妙就被糞填了九次，神馬世道呀！NND，我也要去 Federal Trade Commission 與 Consumer Frauds Bureau 投訴去！
備註-2. 看看Ironwood Payments 是個啥貨色！
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備註-3. 原來 Northern Leasing Systems 這個騙子公司前科累累呀！
A.G. Schneiderman Sues Northern Leasing Systems, Inc. For Deceptive Business Practices And Abuse Of Judicial Process
Attorney General Schneiderman Sues Northern Leasing Allegedly For Trapping Small Business Owners Through Deceptive Practices In Unconscionable Lease Agreements And Suing Them For Failure To Pay
The Lawsuit Seeks To Vacate Judgments Obtained By Northern Leasing, Provide Additional Relief For Consumers, And Dissolve The Company
Schneiderman: We Will Not Allow Companies To Hold Small Businesses For Ransom By Using Lies And Forgery
NEW YORK – Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the filing of a lawsuit against Northern Leasing Systems, Inc., a New York company, and several of its affiliated companies, including Lease Finance Group LLC, MBF Leasing LLC, Pushpin Holdings LLC and others (collectively, “Northern Leasing”), as well as principal, Jay Cohen a/k/a Ari Jay Cohen, law firm Joseph I. Sussman, P.C., and other individuals involved in Northern Leasing’s operations, for their fraudulent and deceptive practices that trap small business owners across the country. The lawsuit alleges that Northern Leasing trapped small businesses into never-ending lease agreements for over-priced credit card processing equipment and abused the judicial process by suing to collect on these leases in the Civil Court of the City of New York, regardless of whether the debt is fraudulent, the claim is timely or legitimate efforts to terminate the lease were ignored. The Attorney General on behalf of the People of the State of New York, and Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Fern A. Fisher are joint petitioners in this proceeding.
The Attorney General’s office secured a temporary restraining order restraining Northern Leasing from selling, assigning or transferring any equipment finance lease for less than fair market value. Northern Leasing and principal Jay Cohen are also restrained from transferring, converting or otherwise disposing of any asset owned, possessed or controlled by them for less than fair market value. Northern Leasing and Cohen also must provide a list of all assets to the Attorney General within five days of service of the order.
“Small business owners – many of whom are immigrants, elderly, or veterans – are the cornerstone of the economy and deserve to be treated honestly and fairly,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “We allege that Northern Leasing not only deceived consumers, but used the New York court system to perpetrate their harassing, fraudulent, and deceptive debt collection practices. We will not allow companies to hold small businesses for ransom by using lies and forgery.”
The lawsuit seeks to vacate default judgments obtained by Northern Leasing against consumers, many of whom were not even aware that they had been sued by Northern Leasing until they learned of the default judgment when they checked their credit reports. The lawsuit also seeks additional relief, including but not limited to a permanent injunction prohibiting Northern Leasing, its related entities, and its owners and officers from continuing their deceptive business practices, ordering Northern Leasing to pay restitution to consumers, dissolving Northern Leasing Systems, Inc. and directing Northern Leasing to notify all three national credit reporting agencies that the default judgments have been vacated and should be removed from consumers’ credit reports. Attorney General Schneiderman previously reached a multimillion agreement with Northern Leasing in 2013 for similar deceptive practices for siphoning over $3.6 million in unauthorized fees from the bank accounts of nearly 110,000 former customers without warning and up to eleven years after their leases had expired.
The Attorney General conducted its investigation with the assistance of the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for New York City Courts and Administrative Authority of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Fern A. Fisher.
The Attorney General’s investigation found that Northern Leasing has targeted small business owners across the country through its deceptive practices, which include inducing individuals to sign lease agreements without realizing they are doing so, falsely representing that the lease is “free” or that the individuals will save money, and falsely stating that the consumer can cancel the lease at any time. In hundreds of instances, it is charged that consumers discovered that the signatures on the leases are not theirs or that material terms were added to the lease without their knowledge.
Northern Leasing’s lease terms are onerous and totally one-sided in favor of the company. The credit card equipment leased to consumers by Northern Leasing is valued at only a few hundred dollars (at most) when new, yet over the course of a Northern Leasing lease consumers pay thousands of dollars for the equipment. Further, the lease agreements are printed in miniscule typeface, require any lawsuit under the lease to be brought in New York, regardless of where the consumer lives, and requires the consumer to pay for Northern Leasing’s attorney fees in the event the lawsuit is found meritless (but not the other way around).
It is charged that once a consumer is trapped in a Northern Leasing lease agreement, Northern Leasing refuses to cancel the lease under any circumstances -- even if the equipment never worked or if the consumer’s signature was forged. Also, based on tiny print in the contracts – which many consumers were never given an opportunity to read – Northern Leasing continues to deduct lease payments from consumers’ bank accounts for months or years after the lease’s initial term.
Northern Leasing also includes a personal guaranty in all of its lease agreements, which traps the individual business owner (or whoever else may have signed the lease) into assuming personal responsibility for making payments under the lease agreement.
When a consumer stops making payments on his or her lease, Northern Leasing, through its own employees and the law firm of Joseph I. Sussman P.C., then bombards the consumer with harassing phone calls and letters threatening to sue the consumer in New York. The law firm of Joseph I. Sussman P.C. then commences collection actions in New York Civil Court, knowing that many of the debts are not collectable, and that the cost of travelling to New York and hiring a lawyer to defend such a lawsuit would be prohibitive for many consumers, many of whom live as far away as Texas and California. Northern Leasing and its related entities filed more than 30,000 collection actions between 2010 and 2015 in NYC Civil Court. The company has also obtained more than 19,000 default judgments against individual consumers since 2010 in NYC Civil Court, often because the consumer either was not aware of the lawsuit or could not appear in court to defend him or herself because he or she did not live in the New York area.
Also named in the lawsuit are attorneys Joseph I. Sussman and Eliyahu R. Babad, who are the attorneys of record on the actions filed in New York City Civil Court, and who sign the complaints and other legal documents in those actions. The suit further names Neil Hertzman, who is the Vice-President of Customer Services and Collections for Northern Leasing and Principal Jay Cohen.
Consumers who believe they have been a victim of Northern Leasing’s deceptive practices are urged to file complaints online or call 1-800-771-7755.
For more information about the Attorney General’s lawsuit, please visit http://ag.ny.gov/NLFAQ.
This investigation and proceeding is being handled by Assistant Attorney General Lydia Keaney Reynolds, Volunteer Assistant Attorney General Ross Bratin, Special Counsel Mary Alestra, Deputy Bureau Chief Laura J. Levine and Bureau Chief Jane M. Azia, all of the Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau, and Chief Deputy Attorney General Janet Sabel.
