My paypal account is negative $3000. Will anything happen?

[feadup]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

You misunderstand how the courts work. It is not that the OP did ANYTHING wrong. There is a user agreement in place between PayPal and it's users. Part of that agreement states that the user agrees to reimburse PayPal for any chargebacks. There was a chargeback. The OP, as the courts will see it, owes PayPal the $3,000.

The OP's options to get his money back would be to sue the bank or the original buyer to recover his $3,000. The courts are not going to get into whether or not the item was shipped, the item quality, or whether or not the credit card was stolen. The issue for the court is, PayPal paid a chargeback, resulting in a negative balance in the PayPal account. According to the contract he has with PayPal, is the money owed to PayPal or not. EVERYTHING ELSE does not matter.

Courts make decisions based on the law and what is written in a contract or user agreement. They do not take into account external factors. Courts do not make rulings based on FAIRNESS.

Is what happened to the OP fair? Of course it isn't! There is nothing fair about it. But fairness and the law are two different things.

that is very clear .... damn!!! and I am asking myself why I hate paypal even more every moment

[yankee]

Courts are not fair as in who did what wrong or had good or bad intentions etc...
It is all about the contract. Nothing more and nothing less. Just simple black and white facts.

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by feadup

that is very clear .... damn!!! and I am asking myself why I hate paypal even more every moment

I don't hate PayPal. I hate the SYSTEM. But trying to change the system is pointless. YES, I always have hope that our elected officials will make changes so that the system is more fair for everyone. But trying to change it is a waste of time.

You need to know how to WORK the system! If you understand how it operates, and design your business around it, then you can be VERY SUCCESSFUL!

That is the whole premise of stealth. We know that eBay sometimes makes unreasonable decisions when banning people. Some people get banned because someone in their household sold counterfeits, or otherwise caused eBay problems. Others may have been banned because a previous user at their address who moved out LONG before they moved in did the same thing. Now, you can cry about the system being unreasonable, but WE have chosen to WORK THE SYSTEM to our advantage instead. THAT is how you find success in ANYTHING!

[muzzie]

Based on what the OP said, I think buyer claimed he didn't receive the item despite the tracking says he actually did.

[bluejet]

Originally Posted by muzzie

Based on what the OP said, I think buyer claimed he didn't receive the item despite the tracking says he actually did.

It doesn't even matter. Based on what jeffweico said, I wont even be taken to court. It will just be written off as a loss.

No property in my name, no credit, don't own a car, completely broke, and have been unemployed for years and currently in my 20's.

Thanks everyone for the help.

[BigCJ]

Why dont you fight it?
Clearly this person screwed you over.

Id file a police report and shoot it to paypal. They may be forced to give the case another look. Even with the CC chargeback.

3k is nothing to sneeze at. And being in the situation that you are in, the police report if free.

[JamesNorth101]

Originally Posted by bluejet

It doesn't even matter. Based on what jeffweico said, I wont even be taken to court. It will just be written off as a loss.

No property in my name, no credit, don't own a car, completely broke, and have been unemployed for years and currently in my 20's.

Thanks everyone for the help.

Things like this can hang around for many many years.

[secret storm]

You guys all seem to think that Ebay or Paypal will take you to court not only will they take you to court to possibly put you in prison but they will also seize your assets and garnish your wages.

[BiN4RY]

Originally Posted by secret storm

You guys all seem to think that Ebay or Paypal will take you to court not only will they take you to court to possibly put you in prison but they will also seize your assets and garnish your wages.

No, the most eBay/Paypal can do is to take you to court. Anything higher can only happen if the law enforcement if finding you guilty of committing federal offenses (eg, committing fraud using Paypal or ebay).

[jeffweico]

eBay and PayPal can sue you and if they get a judgment they CAN garnish your wages, lien your property and attach your bank account. Of course, that assumes that you have these things to begin with and with a bank account, you have to have more money in the account than whatever your personal exemption amount is (it varies by state).

But they CANNOT put you in jail. ONLY THE GOVERNMENT CAN DO THAT! And that does not happen over CIVIL disputes, only over CRIMINAL matters. What the OP is talking about is a CIVIL MATTER, not a criminal one.

Since the OP does not have any of these things, there is nothing they can take, even if they DO SUE and get a judgment. The only problem for the OP COULD be in 5 years if he wants to get a car loan or buy a house. With bad credit, you cannot do those things. At least not at a reasonable interest rate.

[muzzie]

I wonder, what amount of money should be taken from PP in order to transform such case to a criminal one?

[yankee]

Originally Posted by muzzie

I wonder, what amount of money should be taken from PP in order to transform such case to a criminal one?

It is not based on a dollar amount. It is based on the activity. This is simple non payment of debt. He did nothing legally wrong.

[baker77]

Originally Posted by yankee

It is not based on a dollar amount. It is based on the activity. This is simple non payment of debt. He did nothing legally wrong.

I'm interested in this topic. Please explain what "activity" means.

[kingdomcome84]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

I hate to be the one to tell you, but you are totally MISINFORMED. I have over 20 years of experience in the credit and collection industry.

First, they can EASILY get your Social Security Number. One of the big myths out there is that a company cannot run a credit report or sue you without a social security number. But this is not true. You do NOT need an SSN to run a credit report. If the credit bureaus find you by matching on the name and address provided by PayPal or their collection agency, that is enough for them to receive the report. And guess what is ON your credit report? YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER!

Will PayPal SUE? I don't know. Usually, collection agencies decide whether or not to recommend that suit be filed on the account. And $3,000 is NOT too small a balance to go after. Whether they will sue or not depends on if they believe they can collect the judgment. Typically, collection agencies want to know where you are working OR want to see that you have a house or other real property that can be liened OR that you have great credit.

Things that will STOP them from suing include the fact that they see judgments in your name for tax debt, child support or lots of other consumer debt. Or, they see that your source of income cannot be garnished, such as social security, welfare or unemployment benefits.

$3,000 is a good chunk of money, they will not just write it off, unless they believe there is no way that they can collect from you. Collection agencies can't do anything to you except to report the debt to the credit bureaus. But they CAN refer your account to an attorney for legal action.

When you signed up for PayPal, you agreed to their terms and conditions. So, the argument that "PayPal is incompetent" is not going to be a winner in court. If you don't show up, they will get a default judgment. If you show up, you will have to provide a valid defense as to why you should not have to pay the money. If you cannot do that, then they will get a judgment.

Once they have a judgment, it will stay on your credit report for at least 7 years and in some states, 10 years. They will add court costs and reasonable attorney's fees to the $3,000 that you owe. What is considered "reasonable" depends on where the case is heard (they generally have to sue you in the county in which you live) and attorneys in NY, LA or Chicago charge more than attorneys in rural areas. But my guess is between $350 - $500 for the attorney fees and $300 or so for the court costs.

I don't know who gave you advice on the other forum, but they should not be giving advice because they have no idea what they are talking about. It is true that nobody is likely to sue you for $300 or $500, but when you start going over $1,000 they consider it worth their effort to go after you.

Your 20 years experience hasn't been enough. For a debt to be successful placed on your credit report, Full first, middle and last name, birthdate and SSN is required. if the institute doesn't have all 3, that dept will never appear on his credit report.

[yankee]

Originally Posted by baker77

I'm interested in this topic. Please explain what "activity" means.

did you commit a crime...If you committed a crime it is criminal. The only way for it to be criminal is for a crime to occur.

[Haidukken]

Originally Posted by bluejet

He charged back with his credit card months after he got the item. He didn't open a dispute with paypal.

it doesn't matter. I just got word from another forum that says it doesn't matter if they have your real name and address. As long as they don't have my social security number (which they don't) paypal cant do anything but send letters.

They also said $3000 is too small. They will only do something if the balance is like $10,000

Thats pretty **** advice you got... I once forgot to pay my eBay invoice and I got a letter for £120 or something, then I paid it and couple of days afterwards I received a letter from a collection agency, asking me to pay the same amount.

Luckily it was an honest mistake and I totally forgot about the invoice, I paid it right away and the collection agency were kind enough to accept the fact that they had a bit of a communication delay with eBay.

if you don't pay $3k I'm pretty sure they will get that money somehow.

[secret storm]

Originally Posted by BiN4RY

No, the most eBay/Paypal can do is to take you to court. Anything higher can only happen if the law enforcement if finding you guilty of committing federal offenses (eg, committing fraud using Paypal or ebay).

Once your in court im sure you will get law enforcements attention by using a name that was not your own when having a stealth account and using a bank account and mailing items with a stealth name that is not yours is mail fraud and wire fraud.

So Ebay/Paypal will stair step you to that point.

Im sorry you were not smart enough BiN4RY to put 2 in 2 together.

[yankee]

Originally Posted by secret storm

Once your in court im sure you will get law enforcements attention by using a name that was not your own when having a stealth account and using a bank account and mailing items with a stealth name that is not yours is mail fraud and wire fraud.

So Ebay/Paypal will stair step you to that point.

Im sorry you were not smart enough BiN4RY to put 2 in 2 together.

The Original Poster did not use a stealth name and even if they did what laws have been broken?

The only way one can possibly end up in jail over a civil case is contempt of court order and even then it is still extremely uncommon.

[Dmshark25]

Originally Posted by secret storm

Once your in court im sure you will get law enforcements attention by using a name that was not your own when having a stealth account and using a bank account and mailing items with a stealth name that is not yours is mail fraud and wire fraud.

So Ebay/Paypal will stair step you to that point.

Im sorry you were not smart enough BiN4RY to put 2 in 2 together.

It's going to be written off as a bad debt and ruin there credit, but not criminal if they just owe money from a buyers chargeback

[baker77]

Originally Posted by Dmshark25

It's going to be written off as a bad debt and ruin there credit, but not criminal if they just owe money from a buyers chargeback

But like a couple of posters have said, they can't put it on your credit if you don't provide a ssn on the account, right?

[BiN4RY]

Originally Posted by secret storm

Once your in court im sure you will get law enforcements attention by using a name that was not your own when having a stealth account and using a bank account and mailing items with a stealth name that is not yours is mail fraud and wire fraud.

So Ebay/Paypal will stair step you to that point.

Im sorry you were not smart enough BiN4RY to put 2 in 2 together.

Right, because that clearly matters when the context of the whole thread revolves around having real name and address on file in the first place. Good luck having eBay/Paypal tracking you down to serve you papers for debt if they don't have any of your real info in the first place.

Gotta love your pretentiousness

[gosunsplease]

Originally Posted by BiN4RY

Good luck having eBay/Paypal tracking you down to serve you papers for debt if they don't have any of your real info in the first place.

But would'nt they be able to get that info from your bank account that you have tied into your stealth account? Or would they have to get Law Enforcement involved to get that info. Just a thought