Re: WOLPOFF & ABRAMSON threatening to SUE ME?

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I'm not a lawyer, but I can offer the following that you could
run by a lawyer:

If you don't have any documented proof, then it will be tough
getting anyone to listen to your argument regarding having
received a verbal assurance from the dealership that
surrendering the car would free you up from any loan
obligation.

Actually, I'm a little confused as to how the dealership would
have known exactly how much they could have sold the car for
when you spoke to them.

Also, I'd say that, if Wolpoff and Abramson is involved, then
the amount Chrysler claims you owe has already been inflated
by W&A beyond recognition and it will continue to grow for no
reason other than greed.

W&A are criminals, and Chrysler should be ashamed to have
anything to do with them. Even car dealerships should have
standards.

As far as garnishment of your wages goes, that usually follows
a series of events that finish with a Court order being issued
allowing the creditor to claim and receive a percentage of
your salary from your employer before you even see it.

There are limits to what percentage of your wages can be
garnished, one of which is based on the national "minimum
wage." Since minimum wage is going up, I'm not sure if the
law will change, since a rise in minimum wage will mean that
the amount people are allowed to "protect" from garnishment
will, by default, go up.

The post-judgment hearing to determine whether a creditor can
garnish your wages and how how much usually includes some kind
of means test, to see if you can pay the garnished amount and
still meet your ordinary living expenses.

It could be that your income is so low that you are what's
known as "judgment proof." That means that the creditor knows
that, even if it gets a judgment against you, the likelihood
of getting any money out of you is remote.

In this case, they will hold off going to court in the hope
that your financial situation will improve enough that it's
worth their while to get a judgment against you, or they will
quickly sell the alleged debt to someone below them in the
debt collection food chain.

Ultimately, I'm guessing that the contract you signed to get
the car had an agreement to arbitrate clause in it, which
requires that you arbitrate any dispute that arises between
you and the creditor -- which may or may not be Chrysler.

(Although, if W&A used the word "sue," then maybe you aren't
obligated to arbitrate. You might want to give the letter and
any credit agreement you have another read to check this out.)

If you do have to arbitrate, then this means that, sometime
soon, you'll be receiving a notice of arbitration hearing.

Since you're dealing with W&A, this notification will likely
come from its partner in crime, the National Arbitration
Forum. (W&A, NAF and MBNA are known to have been operating a
fake arbiration award scam for years.)

Be aware, though. It's quite likely that the NAF will
deliberately mail this notice to a wrong address, so that you
don't get a chance to respond to it. Then, after a couple
months, the NAF will mail you (or to a wrong address) an
unitemised arbitration award against you for some amount that
is many times more than any actual debt that you might have
ever owed.)

You will have 30 days to file a challenge with the NAF to this
award, assuming you even know that it exists.

If you don't challenge it (and probably even if you do, since
the NAF will likely ignore your challenge, anyway) the
creditor will file a Motion to Confirm an Arbitration Award in
your local court system.

Since this is a document filed with the court, it will be sent
to your correct address. This might well be the first you'll
even hear about the "arbitration."

At this point, you still have the option to challenge the
mechanics of the arbitration, but not the actual arbitration
award itself.

If you look back over previous posts, there are many comments
relating to lack of proof of service -- i.e. lack of proof
that you were ever informed that an arbitration hearing was to
take place and/or that any award was ever made against you --
that yo might find helpful.

It's probably worth your while looking back over those.

The main thing,though, is that you stay involved in the
process, research your options and resist these criminals
every step of the way.

Although the amount being demanded right now doesn't warrant
hiring an attorney at this point, the debt will quickly
increase to the point that it likely will be worth your while
to hire a local attorney to at least go over your options with
you.

Good luck, and congrats on your baby.

On 10/24/07, Edwin Fernandez wrote:
> On 8/07/07, 12 wrote:
>> Several years ago, I surrendered a vehicle to Chrysler.
>> Before doing so, I called them and asked what my options
>> were. I told them that I had a baby on the way, and that
>> the truck was not practical anymore, and I didn't want to
>> step up to a bigger monthly payment to get into something
>> else. They told me to just surrender the vehicle at my
>> nearest dealership, and that would work. I asked, "Will I
>> owe anything?" They said no, that I would just surrender
>> the vehicle and they would sell it again to recoup their
>> losses.
>>
>> Well, now I'm getting letters from W&A L.L.P. telling me
>> that they will sue. I don't own a house, or anything else
>> very valuable, no cars in my name. And I don't think they
>> can garnish my wages, can they?
>>
>> basically, I'm trying to find out how much validity I
>> should give these people. I don't want to have a judement
>> against me ... but I don't want to pay a $3k debt that I
>> didn't exactly agree to, either.