California Consumer Fraud Legal Questions

I don't understand what you mean "he poses a police officer to clean it up".  Did the mechanic have a police officer lie for him to cover up his mistake, or did the mechanic tell you he was a police officer?  Please provide more information on that.  Have you made a claim to the auto shop or filed a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repair with the State of CA?... Read More

Go to the shop, tell whoever is in charge that the car is in your name (bring the title/pink slip if you can), that you paid for all repairs up front (show receipts), and that you demand the return of your car immediately.  You spoke with an attorney, and will proceed to sue the shop if they don't return your property asap.  If they say there are additional charges you haven't paid for, ask them to show you the estimate and evidence of your agreement to pay for said charges.  They can only put a lien on the car if they have unpaid charges, and if you haven't received any bill and agreed to pay for said charges, their lien will be invalid.  Tell them their keeping your property from you is grand theft and can be charged as a felony, and you have the right to sue them in civil court for the value of your car.... Read More

Do NOT pay them anything.  I find no record of a licensed payday lender (unlicensed ones are illegal) named Oakwood Services, but there are reports on the Internet about a crooked collection agency using that name. If they call your or email you, ask them to send a copy of any loan agreement and payment history. Do not give them your bank information, social security number. Since you initially agreed to pay them, I assume you must remember something about getting payday loans in the past.  However, many payday loan companies operate illegally and you do not have to pay the money back. http://www.lakeshorelaw.org/payday-loans--installment-loans.html  has more information about illegal lenders and your rights.  Feel free to contact me for more details.  ... Read More

You might have already spoken to me at the Lakeshore Law Center www.lakeshorelaw.org about this crooked collection agency.  If not, another person with the exact same problem called this week.  This is not a legal collector.  It's not even Iron Man. Oakwood SErvices is not a legal lender either. You are not obligated to pay them any money and would have difficulty getting a real name and location for them anyway.  If by some miracle you can get their bank name, routing number and account number let me know, and I will try to track them down.... Read More

I have litigated a number of lawsuits against storage companies including Extra Space Storage and Storage Etc.  The first step would be to determine when this happened as there are legal deadlines to sue.  The second is to determine whether you have to arbitrate or can go to court.  The third is to review your tenant file and particularly the legal notices that were supposed to be mailed to you.  All of this can be done for free and if you turns out you have a case, then normally representation would be on a contingency.  The Self-Service Storage Facility Act governs the sale of your stored property and has many technical requirement with which I am familiar.... Read More

How long were you parked?  If less than one hour (or if they cannot prove you were there longer than one hour) then you should win automatically.  Also, if the signs are not properly displayed and of the right size, but you would need to take pictures.  I might be interested in taking your case if the one hour rule was violated.... Read More

You need a consumer lawyer, like myself.  You also need to do the following: 1.  File a identity theft police report describing the impersonation of you and the financial obligations that resulted.  2.  It appears you suffered a default judgment which is why you have a bank levy.  That means you were supposedly served the lawsuit but ignored it.    You should get a copy of the lawsuit, the summons and proof of service from the courthouse where your case was filed and/or from the court website.  A motion to set aside default will have to be filed. You don't explain how this identity thief has all your personal information.  You must have some suspicion who it could be.   www.lakeshorelaw.org... Read More

Did your credit card application state you were NOT a US Citizen?  Did the advertisement for the credit card state ONLY US Citizens can apply? As for "ruining your credit" I can assure you as an experienced consumer rights attorney one inquiry did NOT ruin or have any significant impact on your credit profie or score.  You said the "hard credit check" will definitely affect your credit.  Who told you that?  Do you have documents showing your credit score before and after the inquiry? If you can show from the documents that you were tricked into apply when you had no chance to be accepted you might have a claim, but the problem will be showing you have any actual (not theoretical) damages.... Read More

This is a debt collection, breach of contract case.  The risk is he could file bankruptcy if you sue him but a lawsuit must be filed within two years of breach of oral contract and four years of breach of written contract.  You can have a lawyer run an assets check on this guy or do it yourself on various websites including Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis.  I would be happy to discuss your options.  www.lakeshorelaw.org... Read More

This is a pretty simple case.  If you the jewelry was sold as real diamonds, rubies, etc. and now you have iron-clad proof it is fake, then you should have an easy case against the jeweler.  Since it seems so easy there must be something I am missing. Maybe they are claiming you switch the real jewelery for fakes yourself.  Also, you do not say when this happened.  If it has been one year since you discovered the fraud and you have done nothing, you will need to explain such a long delay.  If it just was discovered that different. I suggest you call my office so you can provide necessary details including the amount you paid.... Read More