What happens if AFC Gets a Judgment Against Me?

 Automotive Finance Corporation, commonly known as AFC, has been suing more of its customers in Marion County (Indianapolis), Indiana than in previous times.  In most of these cases, AFC gets a default judgment, then they begin post-judgment collections.

If AFC takes a judgment against you what can you expect? You can expect that any national financial institution that you have dealings with, if AFC knows about it, AFC will send interrogatories to that institution to find out about your accounts, and will attempt to seize any non-exempt funds from those institutions.

Recently, we have found out that AFC may also try to seize funds owed to you or the dealership from credit card processors such as Square Inc. In addition we have seen AFC go after any money from payment transfer companies such as Zelle (Early Warning Services, LLC).  We haven't seen them go after Venmo, but we wouldn't be surprised if they did.  

These collection activities are legal.  If you want to keep AFC from attempting to seize assets involuntarily, if you qualify you can seek bankruptcy protection. In the alternative, you may be able to negotiate a payment plan or post-judgment settlement with AFC.  We can assist you, if you want to do this, please call us at 317-662-4529.   

Body Attachments for Contempt of Court in Indiana, Some Welcome Changes

For years, Indiana has been a center for injustice regarding the issuance of body attachments for unpaid civil judgments.  A body attachment is basically an arrest. Technically, it is not for failure to pay the judgment, rather, it is for contempt of court for failing to attend a proceeding supplemental to judgment to give information to the plaintiff for purposes of collecting the judgment. That being said there are a number of legitimate reasons why a person might not attend a proceeding supplemental. The most common is they never know about the proceeding supplemental in the first place. Other reasons might be lack of child care, lack of transportation, inability to read and understand the legal pleadings, illness or general incompetence. 

Both federal and state law prohibits imprisonment for debt. Section 22 of the Indiana Constitution provides as follows:

Section 22. Debts--Imprisonment exemption

Section 22. The privilege of the debtor to enjoy the necessary comforts of life, shall be recognized by wholesome laws, exempting a reasonable amount of property from seizure or sale, for the payment of any debt or liability hereafter contracted: and there shall be no imprisonment for debt, except in case of fraud.

For at least as long as I've been an attorney, 33 years and counting, courts have issued body attachments in the form of a bench warrant, an arrest warrant. . It has worked differently in different counties, but if a law enforcement officer seizes the person, the law enforcement officer is supposed to take the person to the court, for questioning about why the person did not attend the proceeding supplemental.  On many occasions the person was seized and the court was not in session, so the person had to stay in jail over a weekend, sometimes an extended holiday weekend. 

In recent years there has been some attention in the press to the issue of poor people spending time in jail because they can't pay civil judgments, and it looks like it is finally starting to pay dividends in court rules. Today I was reading Delaware County's local rules in preparation for a case, and I found out that they recently adopted rules greatly reducing the power to issue a bench warrant on a civil judgment.  Essentially the defendant has to prove actual notice and if the warrant is issued, it must be done during court hours and the defendant is taken directly to the court. 

If you are subjected to a body attachment relating to a civil judgment in Indiana, we will talk to you and look into your claim at no charge.  Often plaintiffs and their attorneys make mistakes in the process, and these mistakes could give you the opportunity to collect damages in a lawsuit.  Please call us at 317-662-4529 if you have any questions.  

2017, 2018, 2019 Chrysler Pacifica - Is Chrysler Stalling as much as the Vehicle?

There was a large recall of  154,000 2017 Chrysler Pacificas a year ago over complaints that the vehicle would stall unexpectedly. It is a traumatic experience when your vehicle konks out in the middle of an intersection on a busy highway.  A scan of the web shows that Pacifica owners were given lots of explanations for the stalling, but the attempted fixes often did not solve the problem.  There are signs that the engine control software update that was the prescribed fix in the recall did not solve the problem as 2018 and perhaps 2019 model vehicles continue to experience unexplained stalling behavior.  I received a complaint today about a 2018 Pacifica that was leased in late 2018.

The main problem seems to be with the gas-only versions of the van. The hybrid electric version is the subject of a separate, smaller recall.

There is a class action suit relating to the 2017 Pacificas. I don't have anything to do with that suit, but I checked the status, the case survived a motion to dismiss. The title of the case is now Moran v. FCA USA LLC, 3:17CV-02594-GPC-MDD. The principal lawfirm representing the plaintiffs is Capstone Law APC.


 If your vehicle suddently stalls and creates a dangerous situation. I suggest that you immediately file a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) .

Do online research on Google to find out what other owners of your vehicle are reporting. Take your vehicle to the dealer, and demand that the dealer address the problem. The dealer may take the vehicle in and say they can't "replicate the problem". Ask the dealer if they scanned the engine management computer for past fault codes.   Network with other owners through the Chrysler Pacifica Owners Forum.

The Chrysler Pacifica is a good vehicle overall, but if you are one of the minority of owners that gets a stalling vehicle, I can't blame you if you have shaken faith that your vehicle will be safe.

Note I am not involved in the current class action against Chyrsler, nor do I have any plans to initiate a class action against Chrysler.   If you are not a resident of Indiana, please don't call me concerning the stalling behavior of your Chysler, because I won't be in a position to help you.

Indiana Attorney General Sues Two Car Dealers

The office of Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill (I say office of, because A.G. Hill seems to be spending more time running from his scandals than running the office) filed an action against two car dealers.

According to the Indianapolis Star:

The civil suit, according to a news release, takes aim at Jerramy Johnson and Jeffrey Presnell, who owned and operated three southside businesses: Wheels of Fortune LLC, Southpointe Motorcars LLC and Mid America Auto Remarketing.
The men have been accused of misrepresenting mileage on motor vehicles, failing to deliver titles and charging inappropriate fees, according to the complaint. The lawsuit seeks restitution for affected consumers, many of whom are listed in the complaint, and civil penalties.  

The lawsuit alleges cars sold with incorrect odometers and vehicles that were certified as rebuilt salvage vehicles under fraudlent certifications of inspection.

The lawsuit alleges that the Wheels of Fortune Dealership, which didn't have a license, and whose owner couldn't get a license, illegally sold cars piggy-backing on the license of another dealer, BWI Equipment, I

If you bought a vehicle on credit from Wheels of Fortune, LLC, Southpoint Motors, LLC Mid America Auto Remarketing, Or BWI Equipment, Inc. you MIGHT have legal grounds to get out of your loan and make your lender buy back the vehicle.

If you end up with a bad vehicle that you paid cash for, you may have to rely on whatever relief the attorney general can get because it is unlikely that the individuals behind these operations left enough money in the business to pay claims. consum

There's are lessons to be learned her by everybody.  for dealers - don't let anybody else use your license, period.

For consumers:always get an independent inspection of the used vehicles you buy. Make sure you look for signs of a rebuilt wreck.  Make sure you look for signs that the mileage on the vehicle might be inconsistent with the wear on the vehicle.  You can get a Carfax, but they don't always tell you what you need to know.

The FTC SUES MULTIPLE FIRMS FOR FAKE PAYDAY LOANS

What's worse than a payday loan? Not much, but one thing that is worse is a fake payday loan. The FTC has taken action against a group of firms they say bilked consumers out of tens of millions of dollars by putting through electronic funds transfer requests for payments on loans that never existed. The companies allegedly used personal information gathered by sneaky means to drain the bank accounts of  its victims.

I ran into a couple of instances of fake payday loans when I worked for UAW Legal Services. It wasn't the scam artists that troubled me the most in these cases, it was the banks who refused to follow proper procedures when customers made claims of unauthorized withdrawals.  If you find that your bank account has been tapped to pay for payday loans real or fake without authorization, I suggest that you start taking steps to close your account.  Once they have your information, they can start fake transfer requests again using multiple corporate identities.   Below are the company names listed in the FTC press release. There could be many more.

The complaint announced today was filed against: 1) CWB Services, LLC; 2) Orion Services, LLC; 3) Sand Point Capital, LLC; 4) Sandpoint, LLC; 5) Basseterre Capital, LLC (based in both Nevis and Delaware); 6) Namakan Capital, LLC; 7) Vandelier Group, LLC; 8) St. Armands Group, LLC; 9) Anasazi Group, LLC; 10) Anasazi Services, LLC; 11) Longboat Group, LLC, also doing business as (d/b/a) Cutter Group; 12) Oread Group, LLC, also d/b/a Mass Street Group; 13) Timothy A. Coppinger, individually and as a principal of one or more of the corporate defendants; and 14) Frampton T. Rowland, III, individually and as a principal of one or more of the corporate defendants.