Florida Consumer Legal Questions

Who knows. What IS clear is that the cost of addressing this with a proper legal opinion exceeds the value of the speaker. If you want your speaker back, best bet is to pay for shipping or just move on. THIS is why interstate  internet sales transactions should not be undertaken if they arent going to be treated like a proper business transaction.... Read More

The only way to get a clear answer to such a question that you can rely upon would be to actually spend the money to hire a lawyer to answer it. If you cant or wont spend the money to do so, then you equally cant or wont spend the money to address the impact of "guessing wrong". That said,better course of action is to simply wait until you are 21.... Read More

No way to "advise about your rights" without actually retaining a lawyer to examine all the details. It should be noted that if your car is respossessed, you are not in a position to tell the bank when you can pay as they could care less about your pay check schedule and you would owe the money regardless of gettting the car back. You would be wise to retain a lawyer immediately to try and keep this from getting more convoluted, and you will likely have to retain a lawyer outof pocket.... Read More

Its possible, the question is whether its cost effective depending on the value of the vehicles involved. Generally, the least expensive way to deal with this is to report it to the State Attorney's office as typically the facts you describe may have criminal implications. I also recall that there may be some limitatons as to the applicability for such disclosures such as the age or mileage of the vehicle at issue. Other than that you will have to weigh the expense of hiring a lawyer to handle such an issue to the value of the cars involved. ... Read More

The short answer is:  Probably not, and these phone calls threatening arrest are most likely a violation of Florida's Consumer Collections Practices Act (Fla. Stat. §559.72).  Unless there is proof that you obtained the loan with the intent to steal the money, failing to pay back a loan is not criminal.The next time someone calls, before you discuss ANYTHING about the debt, get the following information:  1) name of the person calling. 2) name of the company he or she represents. 3) Address of the company, including the mailing address if different. 4) A telephone number for call-backs. 5) The amount of the debt, including all add-ons including fees or interest.  If the person gets suspicious, tell them you need the name and address in case you decide to send a payment.Then go talk to an attorney who handles Consumer Collections Harassment cases.  You may be able to sue the company for any actual damages you suffered, plus up to $1000 in Statutory Damages, and possibly emotional distress damages and punitive damages.  The attorney's Fees are paid by the collector, too. ... Read More

This is the peril of representing yourself in a legal proceeding. The answer is no, not generally, though there may be other legal arguments that can be made for the damages you describe. If you are serious about using the courts to resolve this dispute you really need to retain a lawyer to address these issues.... Read More

That you went to jail raises concerns about what you actually knew as 99% of such people buying from a business dont get arrested, they just lose the item. You will need to resolve the criminal charges first and then you can hire a alawyer to pursue such a claim. Be prepared to pay out of pocket for a lawyer unless the seller is a big company or has commerical liability insurance.... Read More

First, is this debt being collected by the hospital itself, or a third party debt collector?  If a third party debt collector, a different law applies, the Federal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA).  The Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act (FCCPA) applies whether it is the hospital or a third party debt collector.There are many unanswered questions that could affect the situation, regarding your type of insurance, the services provided, the notice you received, whether your previous "settlement" was received as payment in full, and other details.  You need to write a letter to the debt collector stating (a) this bill was already paid (and provide proof, if you have it), (b) that you therefore dispute the debt, and (c) you request verification of the debt.  Keep a copy of the letter, and send another copy to the insurance company.  If you do not owe the debt, you can also instruct the debt collector to cease all contact with you -- This will force the debt collector to either stop contact with you (although they can put a negative entry on your credit report) or to file a law suit against you to prove that the debt is valid and collect it against you.  if they continue to contact you to collect the debt, you may be able to sue the debt collector.  There are also a bunch of things that debt collectors are required to do or prohibited from doing, depending on whether just the FCCPA applies, or if both the FDCPA and FCCPA apply.  You may want to take a look at the many sources of information available on the Internet about the FDCPA to see if the debt collector has violated the statutes.  If there has been violations, you may want to speak with an attorney who knows Creditor Harassment cases -- who may be able to sue the debt collector at little to no cost to you.... Read More

There is a law called the Statute of Frauds that requires any agreement to guaranty the debt of another to be in writing.  While the situation can have all kinds of exceptions, most of the time, a creditor cannot hold you responsible for the debts of someone else unless you have signed something.If the creditor tries to collect the debt from you, you may want to talk to an attorney who handles Collection Harassment cases under the Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act or the Federal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (usually shortened to "FDCPA").  Most attorneys who handle such cases do not charge the client, as the statute allows the attorney to collect fees from the other side.  ... Read More

Unless you suffered some kind of physical injury, you can probably get your money back for the pizza and that's about it.  Contact the store, explain your issue -- and maybe they will give you something for free. Or you could complain to the Health department. But unless you have suffered actual damages, there is no significant reason to sue.... Read More

"I am positive i did not over draft to the point....." say no more. If you are overdrafting your account AT ALL, you are aleady on the losing side of such allegations on your part. If nothing else simply because its clear you are mishandling your account and the funds. If you truly expect to address this issue you will need to retain a lawyer (at your expense) and a forensic accountant (again at your expense) to figure out who is right.... Read More

First, any lack of fairness or hardship, was caused by solely your reliance in spending money you didn't have in hand. If the case never settled or for the many months that it didn't you did just fine. Now theres a settlement and  your financially strapped in a hardship. Whatever you would have done without the settlement money is exactly what you need to do to voercome the hardship you described. In the future NEVER commit to, plan for or spend money you don't have in hand. To be clear, the lawyers CAN stop payment on the check, but its a HUGE pain in the butt to do. If they said give it one more week, give it one more week. If it goes past that, they can stop payment and tell them you will pay for new check  to be sent FED-EX overnight to you (its not likely very much). This should solve your issues.... Read More

This was handled poorly from the beginning and it is likely that you will bear the cost of the repairs for financial reasons, unless your comprehensive insurance covers the issues. If the vehicle is valuable as a collectors item, you should have driven to the dealer to inspect prior to final purchase and placement of the protective "bra" and been there for the loading. You should have also refused the delivery at 9pm in the dark on an unlit road, and insisted on a day time delivery or to a well lit location for inspection. You gambled that nothing would happen and the bra would protect from damages and it didn't pan out. The legal expense of fighting over who did what now will likely equal or exceed the amount of the damages. You can try using a lawyer to write a letter or two to see if you get some value rom the other parties, but beyond that it is not likely a cost effective legal dispute. ... Read More