In Jan or Feb my husband determined to start a business. He is a disabled veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This injury has several disabling traits. The severity of these traits correspond directly with the injury that created the PTSD. My husband was shot in the left side of the head after being mercilessly stalked in Vietnam. This injury led to disabling PTSD which severely impairs his ability to make rational financial decisions. For my husband, such decisions are beyond his ability to deal with. The sales person from Northern Leasing Systems, Inc. Was extremely high pressure, making all kinds of promises to which my husband simply could not say no. He did however express doubts to her that accepting such a contract was a good idea for him and to prevent him from changing his mind, she actually kept him on the phone to talk him through the process of sending each signed form to her by fax. She was extremely persistant, much more then can be explained here.
The business never got started. Again because of my husbands condition. I wrote to Northern Leasing System's explaining that I am my husband's fiduciary for his SSDI. He formerly had a fiduciary for his Veterans 100% disability however I became the one to watch those funds after we married. He is not allowed to control his own funds as his PTSD does not allow him to make logical decisions other persons would. He did not tell me he was entering into the agreement with Northern Leasing Systems because, I'm sure, he knew I would not have allowed it.
Even though Northern Leasing Systems could not of known beforehand my husband was disabled they do know now.
We received a letter stating that they had tried every possible way to reach us and were unable to. This is not true. I wrote a detailed letter to Consolidated Recovery Group, LLC, (the collection company NLS, Inc hired to collect from my husband) and copied Northern Leasing on Aug 18 explaining how and why this contract was entered into. Below is an excerpt from that letter.
"I am writing to dispute the debt you are collecting, on your client's behalf, from XXXXX XXXX XXXXX. Mr. XXXXX is retired from the U.S. Army and Federal Government on 100% disability. He suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and has been officially retired, receiving Retirement and Social Security Benefits since 1996. Due to the symptoms of PTSD, Mr. XXXXX has been found to be unable to be employed or own a business. He tells himself frequently that he can work but fails within days of when he tries.
Although, Mr. XXXXX believed he wanted to maintain a business at the time he entered into this agreement with your client, he did not have my permission/agreement to do so. He withheld what he was doing from me because he knew I would not permit it. The ICE representative used a high-pressure sales pitch, keeping him on the phone to insure he faxed every copy and used other techniques as if she knew if he slowed down to think he would back out. The business practices used to make this sale were unethical. Her tactics were extreme for anyone but especially for Mr. Wells with his mental health issues. While it was wrong of Mr. Wells to enter into this agreement, he really did not understand the overall effect of his actions. I will do all in my power to keep him from entering into future agreements like this. Since this incident already occurred all I can do is notify you of what I will do regarding this billing."
Any ethical business would take into consideration a 100% disabled veterans symptoms when they directly contributed to the situations as my husbands did. We quit speaking with Northern Leasing Systems collectors because they did not care about these serious contributing circumstances. They agreed to terminate the contract if the business did not work. This was not done. They refused to accept the credit card processing equipment when it was returned to them.
If you are totally healthy this is still a really bad company to deal with. They are unethical and dishonest. They are being unfair in dealing with my disabled veteran spouse and dishonest in saying they have tried. I realize special treatment is not always justified but in this case my husbands condition should absolutely be taken into consideration.
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