One of my Favorite Cases

For those looking to volunteer your time for a worthy cause, but have not found the right outlet, let me share one of my favorite cases I handled for Bay Area Legal Services.  I represented an elderly man, who had a third grade education and who was unemployed and disabled.  His only source of income was his social security check.

The one thing in the world he did own was a small home in serious disrepair.  He wanted to do a few things to fix it up but did not have the money or credit to go get a loan.  Then, he saw a  T.V. advertisement that promised loans of $2500 regardless of credit.

He called and was told he would get the money, and repayment terms would be monthly payments of $215 for two years.  All he had to do was send an email saying the terms were acceptable.  Since he did not own a computer, he asked a relative to reply.  He never received a copy of the loan document until 2-1/2 years later, when he began receiving an almost daily barrage of collection agency demands.

When he brought in his loan documents, they reflected he had “electronically signed” the loan documents by the email acceptance, and “signed up” for a long-term loan bearing interest at the rate of 99%!  The loan was ostensibly issued by a North Dakota bank where these loan rates are legal, and protected by federal law which pre-empts Florida usury law.  When he came to Bay Area Legal Services he was on the verge of losing his home.

We were able to not only have the balance of the loan forgiven, but also got him a very substantial refund of payments he had previously made.  While the sums involved were small by most people’s standards, the intervention of Bay Area Legal Services in this man’s life preserved the one thing he owned in this world.