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Seeking a $200,000+ repayment!!

anonomog

Gold Meritorious Patron
Spookles99 have you thought this through thoroughly?

Whatever you do make sure you aren't rushing into this. You wouldn't want to regret it later when the whole planet is three feet behind their heads and you are the only one wondering WTF. :yes:
 

Claire Swazey

Spokeshole, fence sitter
I always figured he referred to it as 'registered' since he was writing in the UK, where (like most countries) registered mail exists, and certified doesn't. But maybe I'm 35 years overdue for a cram. :shrug:

In the US, we haz both registered and certified.
 

Operating DB

Truman Show Dropout
Thank you Vance. You have a unique, entertaining and amusing way of expressing yourself. I'm enjoying your blog by the way (with the exception of gratuitous use of the "f" word).
 

Axiom142

Gold Meritorious Patron
Good for you Vance!

Be prepared for a long fight, they probably don’t have the money to repay you so will try and weasel out of it or offer a fraction of your own money. I had a hell of a time trying to get my money back, which was a fraction of the amount that you are claiming. But with perseverance and making a lot of noise, I managed to convince them that I was serious and they coughed up.

Definitely get lawyered up and be prepared to get ‘mean and serious’. Don’t let them mess you around or make you come in for a handling. Remember that it is your money, not theirs.

Good luck, I look forward to hearing regular updates on this.

Axiom142
 

spookles99

Patron
Yesterday, I received a returned letter from the SF org. So, it looks like ClearedSP was absolutely correct. It turns out that, in the US, the recipient must sign for certified mail, and the SF Church indeed refused. Now ... resending regular mail ... .
 

Anonycat

Crusader
Yesterday, I received a returned letter from the SF org. So, it looks like ClearedSP was absolutely correct. It turns out that, in the US, the recipient must sign for certified mail, and the SF Church indeed refused. Now ... resending regular mail ... .

Maybe you could make a thread to invite Anons to have an afternoon picket with you.
 
Yesterday, I received a returned letter from the SF org. So, it looks like ClearedSP was absolutely correct. It turns out that, in the US, the recipient must sign for certified mail, and the SF Church indeed refused. Now ... resending regular mail ... .

do a "proof of mailing" or something like that, otherwise, they can still say they never got it
 
So far as I know there's a difference between certified and registered.

Registered requires the recipient to sign (which would be covered by the above policy).

Certified just means that the carrier confirms that the letter was dropped off along with the regular mail. With certified, there's nothing for the recipient to refuse.
I just now looked at wikipedia and it seems to confirm what I thought: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certified_Mail

You can do Certified with Return Receipt, they do have to sign for it... you get tracking and proof of delivery, for legal purposes! :thumbsup: :happydance:

Atta Boy, Spooky! :clap: Go get them!!! :biggrin:

You can serve someone by publishing it in the paper, for those who refuse Certified mail... So I bet you could do the same with notifying them of your request for a refund... a legal step prior to suing them. Be sure to send a copy to the IRS and the local County tax assessor's office. Tax status as a "Charitable Institution" could definitely be at risk if they do not promptly refund your money upon request, as promised to their "parishioners".

Take out an ad in the local paper, like the "not responsible for debts incurred by anyone other than myself" type, and formally put the Org in question on notice that you are seeking a return of your money they are holding on account.

I would also write to the local D.A.'s office, as the Org's witholding your money held on account constitutes financial fraud. Write as a concerned consumer looking for justice.

Look into local media types who do consumer fraud/consumer protection reporting. If there is any significant delay in your getting a refund, let them go to bat for you and your cause!

The one thing that will hit COS where they live is the threat of bad publicity or a potential flap.
 
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Anonycat

Crusader
Are you thinking of the member Ethics Particle here? That's another person.

No, ET was a SF staff who has been ready to leave for a while. All this in the past year or so. The leaked stats doc, which Tony posted were some of ET's fine stuff! If this is ET or not, it would be awesome to picket.
 

spookles99

Patron
Thanks for the advice. Those are good ideas!

No. I'm neither ET nor EP. I haven't set foot in the SF org for about two years now.
 

Anonycat

Crusader
Thanks for the advice. Those are good ideas!

No. I'm neither ET nor EP. I haven't set foot in the SF org for about two years now.

That's pretty great about being out for the past 2 years.

ET is wanting to go (went?) and you left the SF Org some time ago; in the past two years. I had protested there at that time, so maybe I have crossed paths with you.
 

spookles99

Patron
That's pretty great about being out for the past 2 years.

ET is wanting to go (went?) and you left the SF Org some time ago; in the past two years. I had protested there at that time, so maybe I have crossed paths with you.

Yeah, I was going pretty frequently from 10/2007 to early 2010, and then started trailing off there. I saw lots of protesters!
 
It's a bonus if you are old enough to be considered a "senior citizen". (I am NOT prying! :biggrin:)

Most Counties have an office of Aging or Department of Senior Services, they often work closely with the D.A.'s office to prosecute financial crimes that constitute elder abuse! :thumbsup: :happydance:

Your local County Office on Aging may even have a special employee or social worker who is designated to assist seniors with their financial problems like this one. :thumbsup:

And you could always contact the DPSS as well, and talk to a social worker there in the Adult Protective Services Office. This situation is right up their alley! :thumbsup:

I'm sure you will not need to go to this extent to get your money back, as the Org would be very unwise to open themselves and their financial operations as an alleged "Non-profit" up to this kind of public agency scrutiny. I'm sure you are not the only person that they owe money to, and a percentage of those could be senior citizens. Class action? :thumbsup:

However, it's nice to know that these agencies are all potential allies for you in your quest for a refund. :)

Lurkers~ If you are, or someone you know is in this situation, please take note!
 

Lout Zoo

Patron
It's a bonus if you are old enough to be considered a "senior citizen". (I am NOT prying! :biggrin:)

Most Counties have an office of Aging or Department of Senior Services, they often work closely with the D.A.'s office to prosecute financial crimes that constitute elder abuse! :thumbsup: :happydance:

Your local County Office on Aging may even have a special employee or social worker who is designated to assist seniors with their financial problems like this one. :thumbsup:

And you could always contact the DPSS as well, and talk to a social worker there in the Adult Protective Services Office. This situation is right up their alley! :thumbsup:

I'm sure you will not need to go to this extent to get your money back, as the Org would be very unwise to open themselves and their financial operations as an alleged "Non-profit" up to this kind of public agency scrutiny. I'm sure you are not the only person that they owe money to, and a percentage of those could be senior citizens. Class action? :thumbsup:

However, it's nice to know that these agencies are all potential allies for you in your quest for a refund. :)

Lurkers~ If you are, or someone you know is in this situation, please take note!

Thank you! I had been giving up about getting my repayment of $80,000 plus I requested a year and a half ago. I just hadn't put any real pressure on the orgs yet. I just asked nicely and then complained and suggested I was going to contact a lawyer and pretended I had contacted a lawyer (I really did contact one, it's just that he was a friend and we just talked about it briefly). I now want to put some pressure on. I will drop off my demand letter in person and take a video of myself dropping it off. Let them lie about that! The war is on!

Thanks again for getting me motivated!
 
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