Lesson learned. Always close a bank account attached to a suspended Stealth

[Kelly441]

Over a year after an Amazon account was suspended. I had over $700 taken out of the bank account attached to it. A company sent me an message before the suspension demanding receipts and information because they thought I was selling cakes. I ignored it. Somehow they got a judgement against me and they levied the bank account.


I was using stealth info so they would have never been able to serve me with papers. I don't understand how they could get a judgement unless they can subpoena someone to go to court.

I was using an EIN for an LLC. The address that the IRS has for that EIN is my valid address, and I did not once get any mail from them.

[imboxsy]

Was the company called CAPs?

[yankee]

Interesting.

Can you elaborate with what the levi states?

Also, WHO exactly was the levi issued from and how did they determine damages?

[imboxsy]

so odd that they could determine restitution without the judge having any sales numbers. Doesn't even make sense

[Kelly441]

I don't know anything, they gave me a contact person at the company. It is Wacom

I'm afraid to call or get an attorney involved because I don't want to provide my identity and have them go after my personal banking accounts.

Even though I had an LLC I was using a personal account for disbursements . I have 5 bank accounts with the same bank, but the other accounts are not levied.

[jeffweico]

Actually, you should have been served with a summons, not a subpoena. A summons is issued when YOU are being sued. A subpoena is issued when they want you to come to court to provide testimony in a case (usually) not involving you personally.

In any event, you probably WERE served by what is known as "sewer service". An unethical person claimed you were served when you really were not. It happens all the time.

Some people asked how they could get a judgment? Easy. If you are sued and served but do not show up in court, the plaintiff gets what is known as a default judgment. That means since you did not show up to defend yourself, they gave the benefit of the doubt to the plaintiff and gave them what they asked for.

If you want to do anything about this, I would suggest getting an attorney first.

This sounds like a case of mistaken identity to me. My guess is that the LLC shares the name of a business that the plaintiff was going after and assumed that it was your company, when it could have been a d/b/a or corporation with a similar name. But since it has gone this far and since it would probably cost more than $700 to get an attorney involved AND because there are other issues here, I would just eat the loss and move on. The ONE THING I would check is the amount of the judgment. Because if it was $10k and they got $700, they could decide to try to pursue the LLC for the balance.

[Kelly441]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

Actually, you should have been served with a summons, not a subpoena. A summons is issued when YOU are being sued. A subpoena is issued when they want you to come to court to provide testimony in a case (usually) not involving you personally.

In any event, you probably WERE served by what is known as "sewer service". An unethical person claimed you were served when you really were not. It happens all the time.

Some people asked how they could get a judgment? Easy. If you are sued and served but do not show up in court, the plaintiff gets what is known as a default judgment. That means since you did not show up to defend yourself, they gave the benefit of the doubt to the plaintiff and gave them what they asked for.

If you want to do anything about this, I would suggest getting an attorney first.

This sounds like a case of mistaken identity to me. My guess is that the LLC shares the name of a business that the plaintiff was going after and assumed that it was your company, when it could have been a d/b/a or corporation with a similar name. But since it has gone this far and since it would probably cost more than $700 to get an attorney involved AND because there are other issues here, I would just eat the loss and move on. The ONE THING I would check is the amount of the judgment. Because if it was $10k and they got $700, they could decide to try to pursue the LLC for the balance.

If serving the summons was bogus then my attorney should be able to get the money back? It could be worth the phone call. My attorney only charges about $80 to make a phone call and inquiry.

It is a legit thing, I did sell thier product and got an Amazon email from the attorney over a year ago demanding reciepts and sales history. I wonder if they subpena Amazon for the sales records

I did not for the LLC , only got the EIN, I wanted to make sure the account would stick, but it didn't so I did not follow through

[Kelly441]

"The ONE THING I would check is the amount of the judgment. Because if it was $10k and they got $700, they could decide to try to pursue the LLC for the balance."

Could they pursue me and my personal assets since I did not form the LLC?

[MICKY H]

My advice would be call Wacom and ask for details. I see Wacom sell computer stylus etc,are these goods you were selling. I find it hard to believe that amazon would hand over your bank details to third party also. Just call, withhold your number and ask for the legal dept. I would ask for details were the court action took place and the case number, then call the court. Also at the beginning of the conversation state " I am speaking without prejudice" then if the call is recorded they cannot use the tape.

[imboxsy]

you can look up cases filed by that company

https://www.rfcexpress.com/lawsuits/


This a public database of all the court cases filed

[Kelly441]

Originally Posted by imboxsy

you can look up cases filed by that company

https://www.rfcexpress.com/lawsuits/


This a public database of all the court cases filed

Yep, I found it there. Looks like they sued 25 Amazon sellers. The defendant name on the suit was my ⊗⊗⊗⊗ stealth name, not my LLC. So it looks like this was a sewer summons. They couldn't have served an imaginary person. I think this may be worth pursuing with my attorney

[Kelly441]

They said they issued the summons by mail, can they do this? It was a ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name so obviously Joe Blow couldn't have signed for it. Can a summons be given via certified mail. The address they had was some strip mall and I just added a suite number.

2/7/2014 Summons(es) issued via U.S. Postal Service as to defendant(s) Applebox, Martin Balog, Bethtown Store, Bing Bang Boom, Buy at Wholesale, ChargeWorld, Deal With Us, Inc., Yonathan Englard, Mu Wen Juan, Shaanan Lett-Smith, Victor McDougal, Miele's, Rachelle Owens, PK Ventures, Ralph Popham, Quaver, Xu Rui Rui, Kulap Simonis, Simulstore, Specialty Warehouse, TechWave, Simon Trent, Truncate Home, Jeffrey Winton, gotUcovered. (DJ) (Entered: 02/07/2014)

[yankee]

No signature required for a summons. Just a first class mail letter. If it is not reported, "Return to sender" it is considered served, at least in MA.

With that being said, a bank Levi is an incredible judgment. They have there ducks in a row. I wonder how damages were determined? Anything stated about that?

[Kelly441]

Originally Posted by yankee

No signature required for a summons. Just a first class mail letter. If it is not reported, "Return to sender" it is considered served, at least in MA.

With that being said, a bank Levi is an incredible judgment. They have there ducks in a row. I wonder how damages were determined? Anything stated about that?

No, I could not get any other information. Well if the judgement has already been rendered and a delivered certified letter was accepted then I am not going to waste my time and money with attorney fees. This does bring up an important point though, it's probably a good idea to have a stealth address that you can get mail to. You would want to know if you are getting sued so you can dissolve the LLC and close the bank account down. However, with Amazon I'm sure they notify Amazon and the account gets suspended before a lawsuit is filed.

I think it's safe to say that since the lawsuit was filed against the fictitious name that I don't have to worry about them taking money out of personal bank accounts. They must have subpeoned Amazon for the bank account number and sales records.

[Kelly441]

The court information said that it was suing my ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name, and my store name. Very weird they wouldn't look at the LLC info.

[yankee]

Originally Posted by Kelly441

The court information said that it was suing my ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name, and my store name. Very weird they wouldn't look at the LLC info.

Evidently they did not have to Craziness.

[imboxsy]

Kelly,

Was $700 all you had in the bank account? (basically did they clean it dry) or was there additional funds in the bank account and they only took some fixed $700 restitution amount.

[Dmshark25]

If I were you I would withdrawal cash from your accounts until you find out exactly what is going on. Because if they are after more funds than they will get them, your Bank account was a personal Account you said , so they know who you are , the question above is a good one " was there more than just $700 in that particular account or did they just take everything that was in the account?

It's strange that they just pulled the funds out of your account like that, usually they will get a writ of execution from a judge and they will just freeze the funds in your accounts, not just a specific account , they will freeze whatever you owe from all your accounts

They than give you like a Month to pay that amount back , so If you owed 5K and you had 5 bank accounts with $6000 total they would first freeze everything , and than the accounts would adjust within the first couple days and the bank would even hold money for legal fees that they need to pay because of this and than you will see the account adjust and the 5K would be on hold along with $500 for the bank legal fees and $500 May be freed up from that total of 6K

Than you have a month to pay that 5K and if you don't pay at that time than it goes back to the judge who will rule to take the funds

If you do pay, the bank waits until that month period is up and than they will free up your money minus the legal fees.

It's strange that they just took the money from your account like that, was it a direct charge from the company?

Usually no One would know what you had in your bank account except the judge and only with a judges order would the funds be froze or taken

[Kelly441]

The money is still there, I can see it online. I talked to the bank and they said there was a hard hold on the account I believe. They said no funds can go in or out. DMShark, I understand what you are saying, but the lawsuit was filed against the ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name and Amazon store name. So, I don't think they can get to the other accounts. However, you sound like you know what you are talking about and you got me scared now. Maybe I should bring this up with my attorney this week. They did just freeze the funds for now. So you are saying they will be going back to the judge to get permission to take it? Why wouldn't they have already froze my other accounts?

Also, If I do take it out, where am I going to put it? In a different bank? Can't they find out all the accounts I have money in from all banks?

[Dmshark25]

Put it in a safe, seriously , it's the safest place for your money until you know what is going on, it's a bad feeling to go online and see your account all negative or funds being held and than you call the number the bank gives you and all they say us we accept visa, so if you gave no money and no credit cards your screwed

Don't get scared but don't think that it will go away , just know for this to happen it takes a lot of paper work , time and than a judges order to freeze the funds, and it also takes a judges order to unfreeze the accounts

I would go to your bank get as much cash as you can stash away now , I'd hit all my ATM limits, because from now to the morning when u get a hold of your attorney is a long time and a lot can happen

Everything can get straightened out but you need to take care of it

[Bunneh]

They said no funds can go in or out.

DMshark25 doesnt look like OP can get money out?

[yankee]

Originally Posted by Bunneh

DMshark25 doesnt look like OP can get money out?

That one account.
He has others.