March 14, I received a billing notice from SKS Associates. SKS stated they had acquired all the rights, title, and interest in certain leases owned by Lease Finance Group, LLC, and that upon auditing my account, they determined that certain taxes and fees were not collected, in the amount of $74.99. I telephoned their customer service department and eventually reached a representative. When I explained that the lease had been ended, paid off, and the credit card processing unit returned years ago, the rep said that didn't matter. He claimed I hadn't repaid property taxes paid by Lease Finance Group in and that the amount due would be withdrawn from my bank account. I told him the bank account had been closed when I sold my business in whereupon he said that was fine, they would just turn it over to a collection agency. I pointed out that the statute of limitations on that type of debt was only six years, and then I reminded him that SKS would have to provide documentation showing the debt was valid. He interrupted to angrily tell me that if I joined a class action lawsuit, we would all lose. Seeing that we were getting nowhere, I hung up and called my county assessor's office. The records were checked, and showed that my 2003 property taxes on my leased equipment were paid—by me, not by Lease Finance Group. The assessor's office is sending me a copy of the receipt, which I will send to SKS.in just a few minutes googling SKS, I've seen dozens of stories similar to mine, but I can't find out much about SKS Associates itself. It's very strange that all of a sudden many, many people are having old leases audited and then getting billed by this organization.
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