Here is a synopsis of what has transpired:

My father is a physician. A couple years ago he was arrested and plead guilty to one count of over-prescription of pain medicine. Since then he has been incarcerated and I have been handling his affairs as his power of attorney. I have sold his business and have been trying to bring all his accounts current. I have come across one account that has been very difficult to deal with: MBF Leasing.

I noticed that this company was deducting several hundred dollars a month from my dad's corporate accounts. I did some research online and discovered that MBF leasing offered merchant services and credit card processing equipment. I also found out that they have taken advantage of a lot of customers using their lease documents. My financial advisor and I contacted them requesting that they close the account, but they refused. They sent us the lease documents which are attached saying that the leases could not be terminated unless the amount owed was paid in full and the equipment was returned. I closed the corporate bank accounts which they were drawing from, and that is when they started calling me on my cell phone repeatedly.

I approached this account like any other account; I started making payments on what was owed with the money that I had to work with. I did this for about 3 months. I found out recently after speaking with my father about the account, that the agent who signed him up had lied to him. He was specifically told by the agent that he would be paying for the credit card processing service only, and not the leasing of the equipment.

I spoke with MBF Leasing on the phone at the beginning of November 2010 and told them what I had found out from my father. I offered them $2000 to settle the account. They would not accept it, saying that my father owed them over $9000. I told them that I would therefore not be making anymore payments. Ever since they got my cell phone number after the closing of the corporate bank accounts, they have been calling me almost every day during the week, multiple times each day. I told to stop calling me, but they continue to do so. I have not authorized a payment from my credit card in 2 months, yet they ran 6 payments on my credit card. Fortunately I was able to get my credit card company to reverse the charges.

I think that some if not most of these leases may possibly have been forged. To this day, they have already been paid about $24, 000. They want my father to pay $9000 to close the account with the return of the equipment. I was not involved in the operation of the business, but I don't think they even provided all the equipment mentioned in the leases. I do have some equipment, but it is labeled “Merchant Services” and “Transfirst”. It is the same equipment mentioned in the MBF Leasing lease documents. My father also had several monthly charges from Merchant Services and Transfirst for several years which I noticed when I started overseeing his accounts. I cancelled both of these accounts in 2009, and was told I didn’t need to return any equipment.

I would like MBF Leasing to cancel the leases and stop harassing me. I would really like to see them and any other affiliated companies (Merchant Services, Transfirst, Northern Leasing, etc.) shut down.