Criminal Complaint for warrant, for a Cash Advance?????

Question

I got a cash advance from this company online about 7 months ago. I have talked to them about making payments, but I havent made them yet. I got an email from them the other day titled "Criminal Complaint for warrant (draft)" It has a Warrant attached and says if I dotn pay by a certain day I will be jailed. Can these collection agencys put me in jail if I cant pay it all? Has anyone else gotten a cash advance online and had problems paying?? HELP I'm afraid!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

They are violating federal law by doing this. They cannot threaten you like they are. There is something called the fair debt collection practices act and it prohibits this activity. They have a civil case against you and need to serve you papers in person to get you to go to court. Then they have to win and then they would have to garnish your checks or something else like that.  

Answer 2

Usually an empty threat; but there are some jurisdictions where the check is treated as fraud, and you could be at risk; but that's pretty extreme

Answer 3

Only a court can issue a warrant.  The creditor can file a police report, but the cops will probably tell them that it is a civil matter.  Only the DA can decide to use tax money to pursue a criminal charge.  What you have seen is an empty threat.  The manner, making up real looking documents, is known as "blue-backing" and might be prohibited by the fair debt collection practices act.   Most likely is that they will sue, in civil court, get a judgment and then garnish wages and use othe ways to enforce the judgment.

Answer 4

i own a payday advance company in california. check with the particular state that you live in, but most states do not allow the criminal process to be used against a consumer to collect any deferred deposit transaction. i have to have it on my wall as protection to the consumer. probably all they can do to you is charge a fee for the bounced check (real or electronic) and take you to small claims court and charge you for the court costs. contact them and make a payment arrangement then stick to it. they want the money, not you in jail.

Answer 5

Yes, they can get a criminal warrant against you, if you got money from them and you haven't paid it back or made an attempt to pay it back.  Usually it is called "theft of services", because they provided you a service and you didn't fulfill your part of the bargain, in essence stealing from them. They can file a police report and have a warrant signed by the judge to arrest you for it.  It would be the company putting you in jail, not the collection company.  You should call them and try to pay at least part of it.  You shouldn't have gotten an advance from them if you didn't have the money to pay it back or weren't planning to pay it back.  Take responsibility for your actions - pay it.