Class action lawsuit against Northern Leasing Systems, Inc.

If you tell your bank it was unauthorized they MUST credit it back.

Just what kind of "taxes" are allegedly delinquent, anyway?

My contract said my payment would be $131.09, and for 3 years I paid $143.90. I surmised that was sales tax or whatnot (although it's kind of high...). I bought out the lease when it ended in May of 2008 after speaking with a rep at Northern and finding out the payoff amount. I faxed them a letter confirming the details of our conversation that day (Feb. 1, 2008) and the lease was paid out on 5/16/2008.

Yesterday I received a letter stating that I owed $97.63 in under-collected "taxes". I tried calling Northern and they faxed me the lease (which I still have in my records at home)... and a list of payments made (that does not reflect the down payments made by check to the salesman).

In my letter faxed to them I stated that as per our discussion, this would conclude our obligations to them and no further charges would be authorized (does that cover me somehow?)... I managed to stop payment on the debit they attempted last night...my bank is working with me.

When I called Northern they were pretty vague about what these "taxes" are... so does anybody know what they are supposed to be for? I'd like to see if these supposed "taxes" actually went where they were supposed to go. If I was delinquent in my taxes, wouldn't the state or federal government be after me for payment?

It all just smells rotten.

They told me property taxes

My lease with this ripoff company ended in 2005, yet they tapped my account for $106 on Mar 29, 2011. I called and spoke to a customer service person, who I had difficulty understanding, to find that an audit showed I owed this amount in taxes, what taxes I never got straight. I will protest this and it is acts like this that convinced me to get as far from this organization as possible.

Originally Posted by Grashoppr:
Just what kind of "taxes" are allegedly delinquent, anyway?

My contract said my payment would be $131.09, and for 3 years I paid $143.90. I surmised that was sales tax or whatnot (although it's kind of high...). I bought out the lease when it ended in May of 2008 after speaking with a rep at Northern and finding out the payoff amount. I faxed them a letter confirming the details of our conversation that day (Feb. 1, 2008) and the lease was paid out on 5/16/2008.

Yesterday I received a letter stating that I owed $97.63 in under-collected "taxes". I tried calling Northern and they faxed me the lease (which I still have in my records at home)... and a list of payments made (that does not reflect the down payments made by check to the salesman).

In my letter faxed to them I stated that as per our discussion, this would conclude our obligations to them and no further charges would be authorized (does that cover me somehow?)... I managed to stop payment on the debit they attempted last night...my bank is working with me.

When I called Northern they were pretty vague about what these "taxes" are... so does anybody know what they are supposed to be for? I'd like to see if these supposed "taxes" actually went where they were supposed to go. If I was delinquent in my taxes, wouldn't the state or federal government be after me for payment?

It all just smells rotten.

I too just received the same letter 2 days ago, with the exact same claim of "taxes". I was furious to find out that SKS Associates took money out of my bank account that same day. My lease was up in 2006, paid in full. When I contacted SKS I was told the charges were for property taxes, and administration fees. I live in Oregon, and there is no property tax on leased equipment. My bank is crediting my account, which I was forced to close my since they could charge my account at any time, since they have my info and SKS told me there is no statue of limitations and that is stated in the agreement, which is crazy, but with my account info they could access it again at any time. Please protect yourselves from these scam companies. I am willing to pursue legal action if possible so others do not have to go through this. Thankfully it was a small personal account that they had accessed and not my business one.

I received a letter on March 11, 2011 from SKS stating that I owed 100.00 for back taxes which had been discovered in an audit. The letter stated that "they intended to debit my checking account". I called my bank and transferred every cent out of it and moved it to another account.

I called SKS (Northern Leasing) and the woman was extremely rude, and said if I didn't allow the debit that they would send me to a collection agency. My lease was concluded in 2008. This company is unethical.

[annjd]

See also:

Northern Leasing Systems fraud case

Question for those who have had personal accounts debited... did you place these accounts on file with the original lease? I find it very disturbing that more and more people whose businesses are closed, etc., seem to be reporting that their personal accounts are being tapped. It's logical that they had business accounts on file for debits for leases (never, never again will I do that!), it's very scary that they are somehow accessing personal accounts.

There is now a Facebook group for victims of this latest scam. It's called SKS Associates Raided My Bank Account. Hopefully this might finally bring some media or other attention to this.

Originally Posted by Unregistered No---and your bank must reverse any withdrawal that you say is unauthorized.

This is the exact scenario that happenned to me; over 3 years after my lease was ended. My lease was from 1998 to 2007. A mysterious ACH withdrawal for $195 was taken from my corporate checking account by a compay called SKS PMT SOLUTIONS mid-March 2011. Google search revealed that SKS PMT SOLUTIONS is associated with Northern Leasing. Upon calling Northern Leasing end of March 2011, they stated that SKS PMT is their auditing company. Upon my requesting a copy of a statement accounting for the $195 charge, Northern Leasing simply faxed me a copy of the lease agreement, with no specific explanation of the charges. As an added insult, they also then faxed me a letter releasing me from any further obligation! OVER THREE YEARS AFTER THE LEASE WAS TERMINATED.

Since this is my corporate checking account, the bank can not return the funds, and claims that I would have had to report it within 24 hours in order to have a claim.

The worst part; is since I had to close my checking account and open a new one, it's cost me several hours in time and effort re-setting up my entire business checking acct.

Never never do business with anyone again without googling them first.

Obviously, they hit a bunch of people this am. I woke up to find this company(?) had deducted money from my bank!! Unknown, unauthorized! When I called the number on my bank record, I was told that at one time I had leased a c.c. machine from another company, this is true and I bought out the contract in 2004. She proceeded to tell me that they had been audited and this was the balance of taxes they had not collected. I had a receiipt paid in full. I told her to put the money back and send me the written documents, she stated if she did this, they would report it to my credit bureau. And they had the rright to collect. I pointed out If they did not put that money back, I would report fraud. When you look up thier website, it is notice of the charges. How many people did they rip off