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NY AG Eliot Spitzer Settles Two More
by Christopher Menkin New York Attorney General Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who has announced his intention to run for Governor in the Democratic primary, issued another press release on NorVergence settlements. He included the Irwin Financial settlement of $130,452, which he previously announced in a press release of January 13 th , in this one, the new settlements are: $ 32,098 for Court Square Leasing Corporation and $24,001 Madison Capital LLC, d/b/a Madison Capital Equipment Leasing, Inc. The total to date in settlements for Spitzer and staff is over $13 million. Named in the press release for their work were: Assistant Attorneys General Joy Feigenbaum, Keith Gordon, and Shahla Ali under the direction of Susanna Zwerling, Chief of the telecommunications and Energy Bureau, Thomas Conway, Chief of the Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau, and Terryl Brown Clemons, Assistant Deputy Attorney General for the Division of Public Advocacy. In the meantime, the NorVergence blogs and listserves indicate very unhappy complainants who were hoping for a better negotiated settlement, many of whom also want remuneration. The reality of the talk will be known when it is learned how many have formally accepted the settlement achieved by Spitzer and his staff. In NY AG press release: "I am pleased that our settlements now total more than $13 million in relief for NorVergence customers," said Spitzer. "These settlements bring a resolution to many small businesses that were struggling to remain competitive while obliged to make steep lease payments for worthless equipment." “In addition, the settlements forgive any late fees, penalties and property insurance charges imposed after termination of contracted services, and credit any payments made after service was terminated. The financial institutions will issue refunds to customers where payments exceeded amounts due under the settlements and will terminate all litigation and withdraw any adverse credit reports against former NorVergence customers who elect to participate in the settlements. The financial institutions will also offer the same settlement terms to customers who have already settled on less favorable terms. “Currently, 14 other financial institutions are facing impending legal action by the Attorney General in connection with the fraudulent NorVergence telecommunications agreements. Those institutions include: “Alfa Financial Corporation, d/b/a OFC Capital; BB&T Leasing Company; Celtic Bank Corporation; Partners Equity Capital Company, LLC d/b/a/ Commerce Commercial Leasing, LLC; Dolphin Capital Corp.; IFC Credit Corp.; Interchange Bank; Liberty Bank Leasing; National City Commercial Capital Corp. (formerly known as Information Leasing Corporation); Popular Leasing USA, Inc.; Preferred Capital, Inc.; R-G Crown Bank (d/b/a Crown Bank Leasing); Sterling Bank Leasing, Inc.; and Studebaker-Worthington Leasing Corp. “Notices regarding potential legal actions were also sent by the Attorney General to Thomas Salzano and Peter Salzano as officers of NorVergence, which was declared bankrupt in July 2004.” Also in the blogs and listserves, it is noted several states have ruled on venue issues to the favor of the NorVergence lessees; however, actually hearings are now scheduled with some local courts so back logged that “retired judges” or other county jurisdictions are being utilized. The group action and class action group appear to be centering on the insurance coverage of the leases, labeling it “fraud” and a cause to break the lease contracts. The issue appears to be the value of the Matrix box and not the “software program” or “system” that made it work. They claim the leasing companies “perpetuated fraud” by insisting the dollar amount on the lease for equipment costing $500 on the retail marketplace. Personal property tax issues are also being explored, they state. If there is any other observation to be made, the fury appears to be dying down to a more hard core number, who may be considered “obsessed” on the subject to “get leasing companies.” For instance the Yahoo TheAberdeenKid@yahoogroups.com , started by the Telecom Agents Association, who also is sponsoring a group action class suit and offering help on individual cases by their “legal co-op,” started July 6 with over 1500 members. At press time the count is 884, many, perhaps as much as 50%, are not those who actually signed the NorVergence leasing contracts, plus attorneys and staff from the various state and federal agencies. The message count in the high of August 1688 and to date in January, 616. As the group has gotten smaller, more messages also appear to come from a limited few, who appear almost daily with their opinions. A full copy of AG Spitzer's press release may be found at: Here is his January 13 th (when received ) press release on Irwin Financial: A full re-cap of the announcements are here: |
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