MBF Leasing, Universal Merchant Services, Fifth West Bank ripoff, deceptive sales practices, victim seeks remedy New York New York

Our story is very much the same as many others posted here. We had a brand new start-up company. We were contacted by a rep of Fifth West Bank who claimed the co. was a wholesaler of sorts and as a clearing house for all these bank transactions was able to discount the standard fees (discounts) charge by many credit card processing services. The sales rep mentioned something about a fee to cancel while I signed the contract, but like most people I didn't get a copy of the contract.

Even though I realized some time later that the lease fee on the equipment was very high in comparison with other equipment leases, I continued to pay it because I had agreed to do so. After two years, the decision was made to close our retail store. I contacted MBF Leasing to return their equipment to them and they gave me the instructions and then told me to hold on while they calculated the amount of the check that I should enclose in the box. I was expecting them to come back with a pro-rated amount on the $70 lease fee that I had been paying monthly, but instead they came back and said that I needed to buy out the remainder of a 4 year lease at the cost $1495. I would never have agreed to a 4 year lease.

To make matters worse, because the company was not established I started it as a sole proprietorship and was required to sign a personal guarantee. Has anyone else had this as part of their contract?

Because the company is closing, I anticipate that I will be closing out the bank account within the next couple months, so I can get around the auto withdrawls. Has anyone had an experience where MBF Leasing pursued this beyond harrassing phone calls? Has anyone had this show up on their credit report or been sued by MBF? I am trying to decide how to handle this.

These people are scum and need to be stopped. I am going to report them to the BBB, FTC, and contact the Atty. Generals of both CA and NY.

If anyone knows of any recourse or way to legally get out of paying this, please advise.

Anna
Los Angeles, California
U.S.A.