I owe PayPal $5500 What will they do?

Hi people, I live in Canada first of all. So I screwed up, I took from PayPal when the money wasn't in my bank account via instant transfer due to problems coming up. So now I'm in the negative with PayPal, owing them a little over $5500 CAD. There is no chance I can pay them back right now, as I had a personal issue with my bank account, resulting in me being broke.

I will be able to pay PayPal back, but over a couple years (2 maybe? Provided there isn't interest or whatever.)

What will PayPal do to me? I know for a fact my credit rating is screwed. Will they sue me over this?

Can I pay the debt collectors over 2 years time? Is there going to be interest on my debt to PayPal?

Any assistance would be awesome.

 

Your probably looking at time in jail for fraud. I would be very worried right now if I were you!

 

I don't know if I'd go that far with it. Sure it could go to small claims or some other court function, but due to legal costs involved (for both parties), this option is rarely taken by service providers.

I'd say they're definitely going to contact you, limit your account, and expect to be paid back. If its not paid back right away or fairly quickly, then yes they will either send it to debt collectors who you can then work with to pay it off afterwards, or they will take you to court at which point you'll likely be ordered to pay it back within a reasonable amount of time (depending on any priors you may have, and whether or not this was a deliberate action you took, I don't think you'd go to jail). You may want to get ahead of the situation a bit by calling them first, and telling them you know whats going on.

 

Assuming it was a problem somewhere in good manners - you should send them a email right away explaining your situation and mentioning the payback time.
If you did something as a fraud then don't expect any positive feedback.
Cheers!

 

So, you have $5,500 negative balance due to PayPal? Ouch. I feel there's deeper problems than what you're presenting here, but to stick with your question...

This may end up being a debt-collections matter at some point. Don't fall for the pitfalls & myths, like the cops will knock on your door next weekend. However, if you don't pay up, with a balance that high, perhaps if you don't pay it months down the road & PayPal has done their due diligence to collect/settle, it could possible go to court or file a judgement... but really that is a small percent chance.

Start working OT, cut grass, do a yard-sale. Get that cash built quickly, I'm thinking $1,000 within 30 days preferable. I would not talk to PayPal's resolution team UNTIL you at least have some funds & are in a realistic position to work with them. My thinking is in a month's time from now, go to them with a payment plan offer, but realize this is not a loan/credit card so I would say it will be a challenge to get them to accept some type of settlement... which is why I'm taking the payment plan route.

Now for the caveats: This is just general speak, Canada may have different processes. You need to start reading through paypal forums, I'm sure someone has recorded their experience.

I wish you luck.

To sum up:
What will PayPal do to me? I know for a fact my credit rating is screwed. Will they sue me over this? Collect their debt, and nothing more. Credit may be affect, if collection efforts are made.

Can I pay the debt collectors over 2 years time? Is there going to be interest on my debt to PayPal? Fair to say they will NOT take a 2 year payment plan, I doubt they'll add penalty interest, unless there's some language in the ToS that rules in their favor.

 

Hi OP,

My guess is your account is verified, no? If yes, then I believe you would need to repay ASAP to remain in good standing, at least a decent one. If no, say goodbye and run, sorry but true.

Another alternative is not to e-mail or wait for letters, dial them up and informed them regarding your current situation and seek understanding. Should they not be polite, it is good to borrow some tiny amounts from relatives and amount them to 5,500 and repay PP. Treat it like a lesson.

 

I'd say consult a lawyer. I can only talk about the UK but here Paypal is not a bank, so what you owe them would be a civil matter and non-priority consumer debt. If you don't have the money there's not much Paypal can do except mess with your credit rating and maybe take you to court. In the UK debt collectors have no legal standing unless they are acting as Baillifs or Sheriff Officers which ONLY only happens AFTER court if you do not stick to the judgement. You do not have to co-operate, speak to, or discuss anything with them. My advice would be DO NOT (EVER) speak to anyone, or make any deals or offers, until you are sure of the legal status. NEVER speak to or telephone debt collectors. Everything must be in writing only.

This is an area where morals have to be put to one side. You must get a true handle on the legal situation first. If you don't your rights will be trampled on and you'll end up agreeing to re-payment plans with stupid interest rates or payment amounts that you can't afford.

If fraud was involved the police will be called and you'd end up calling a lawyer for legal advice. If it's a civil matter you still need legal advice.

 

I really do not know how you can be in a negative balance of $5500 with paypal....How did PayPal allow that to happen in the first place....however, always remember that behind every company, there exists a human being who would definitely be able to assist you. Sometimes the rules are rigid but you can definitely try to appeal to PP softer side

 

Well, it is possible as it may be a transaction fault hence the delay in accruing negative balances. However, it must get rectify asap to avoid legal consequences.

 

Avoiding the problem is probably the worst thing you can do. Paypal doesn't care you don't have the money right now. It's your problem. What I am failing to understand is how the money transfer gets approved in your PP account without you actually having the money.

 

The only debt that I have ever run across without interest, or whatever being added was hospital bills....
By whatever law allows them, they can add whatever is allowed by law to your debt; Even if they are not
allowed to add interest, they would be certainly allow "whatever" ie: whatever costs they incur in order
to attempt to collect what you owe can be added to your debt, ie: clerk work, court costs, misc fees, etc....
one person says there is a small chance of you being taking to court, none the less, these days, it is still a chance...
and it will not go away; after all, you did take money that you knew upfront that you would not be able to cover....
You should contact paypal in writing, and come up with some type of payment arrangements that will make both
sides happy, but they are not your bank; They could just as easily say you purposely took the money, and take further legal action...
and if they do, then that will get added to your debt.

At the very least, we know now that you willfully stole from paypal knowing you did not have funds to cover whatever you were doing, and from that crime you expect a 2 year no interest payment agreement. I am sorta thinking that paypal should seek criminal action against you; Who knows what you are laundering money through paypal for...

 

I still say don't do anything until you get a legal perspective on this. The minute to contact them and attempt to settle the matter, you've admitted liability and you're effectively screwed. You must must must get proper legal advice on this.

If it was a mistake of fact on Paypal's side them there may be little they can do about it - tough on them, not very moral on your side, but the Law. I don't know the Law where you live so I can't say. You have to find out the status before you go around writing/emailing/talking to them or anyone. If you obtained the money fraudulently then you can be sure they will use the power of the Law against you, but it seems like a lot of assumptions are being made here. Consult a lawyer before you do anything that you can't change and before you drop yourself in it.

 

Companies learn from their mistakes too...but to allow someone to use paypal on funds they could not
cover is beyond me, and apparently he knew exactly how to trick paypal out of $5500...pretty sure
if paypal figures how he evaded their process, then they will correct it asap....

and it does not appear to be any type of assumption; he pretty much confessed to
defrauding paypal out of $5500, and it does not matter if it was by accident or not,
as he had no motive to turn the funds back over to paypal; At this point, you can
assume on what he did with $5500 that he claims to have taken from paypal....

There is no assumption about him having morals, honesty or ethics; I think his moral status is pretty clear at this point. Apparently he has no issues on stealing from you, then turn about and inquire if it is ok for him to repay his theft back in a couple years, and I doubt he will even do that; Once you ruin your credit, then returning the funds over couple years will not fix his credit the way it was before, assuming he even had good credit; It is safe to "assume" he will not repay what he took...maybe paypal will implement "credit" based applications, which simply means if you do not have good credit, then you do not get to 2nd base, having bad credit puts you into a higher risk category, and makes it very tempting to cheat the system, and take what does not belong to you...

 

While I might agree with some of what you say, I still think you're jumping to conclusions. You seem sure that he "stole" the money and defrauded Paypal. That's a big leap from what he has said.

What if Paypal paid the money to him by mistake (we don't know HOW he got the money so you can't reach any conclusion)? While I might notice if my personal account had $5500 in it that I wasn't expecting, I certainly wouldn't question it if it appeared in my business account or joint account because I'd assume it was payments from customers or my partner had put it there. $5500 is not an unusual amount of money when it comes to business. In this circumstance, what if I spent the money not knowing it was put there by mistake? I didn't acquire the money fraudulently and I didn't spend it knowing it wasn't my money. What if I then realized what had happened but wasn't in a position to pay it back right away?

What if Paypal made the mistake? People seem a bit incredulous about HOW this came about, so maybe it was a mistake/error by Paypal? It may be morally wrong to spend the money if he knew it wasn't his, but you don't know that this is what happened. Don't tell me you wouldn't be even SLIGHTLY tempted if your bank account was suddenly enriched by a few thousand dollars? The evidence isn't there, but too many people seem to want to jump on the moral bandwagon.

If it was a mistake by Paypal, then if they took it to court they might have difficulty providing he owes them anything - we don't know enough to be sure. If they do go to court and win then a 2-year payment plan may be adjudged to be too short and a 5-year or 10-year repayment plan more appropriate. If he was unemployed in the UK the court might decide payment of £1 per week would be all he could afford.. If Paypal paid the funds in error then they have to accept some of the responsibility. If he stole the money or defrauded them in some way, I'm sure the police will become involved. The fact that they don't seem to be involved at this time is highly suggestive that it's been a mistake by Paypal - but that's only conjecture.

If my opinion seems a bit skewed to you that's fine. I work with consumer debt organisations, and I've seem some despicable behaviour by banks and financial institutions over tiny amounts of money. I've seen them break the law, lie to people, harass them to the point of suicide (and to ACTUAL suicide), and behave in ways that you wouldn't believe. The financial crisis of 2007 may have woken some people up to the way some banks behave, but if you think banks are high on morals or customer care then you'd have to be seriously deluded. These companies don't even have the morals of an alley cat, and you're bemoaning an individual who may have made a genuine mistake. With some people advising him to admit liability and attempt to deal with a sophisticated financial company without proper legal help, that is simply the wrong advice at this time. He must seek legal advice.

His credit rating may be important to him, but he isn't going to protect it trying to deal with it himself. He needs guidance to protect himself and his interests. Morals have to be put aside in this situation. I'm not saying that he doesn't have a moral duty to pay it back, but a moral duty is not a legal duty and that is what counts here.

 

His entire story just sounds shady to me...I just cant see paypal turning over $5k+ without doing some
type of instant verification process to even verify the money is even there. If this was that easy, then everyone
would be racking up with $5k to spend, so he is pretty much saying that paypal let him pre-spend
$5,500 before they had a chance to take it from his checking account (according to him, funds do not exist.)

It is pretty clear that he took money that he knew he did not have...
He tells you he screwed up while confessing to the crime. He knew he did
not have the money to cover his transaction, period....
now the question is why would paypal even let him do this....?

I was not born an idiot; He already told us about the $5,500 so he
did indeed know about it; and it does not matter if $1,000's just appeared
in my account; The rule of thumb is, if it is not yours, then it is not yours
to keep, even if someone else makes a mistake, and the system has
never worked that way either; If i earn the money, then it is mine to
keep, but if it just shows up one day, then I am asking questions. If he was a mil dollar company, then we call this audits, but a member showing up one day making one post bragging how he got $5,550 from paypal, well, i am guessing he is not from the million dollar club, and far from it.

But you are right, I do not know exactly what went down, and I can only guess, and it is not a hard guess either...somehow he got paypal to let him spend $5,500, and when paypal went to take it from his account, its not there....
sorry, I just can not see how he could have did this by mistake...
and to me this act is pretty much explains itself....

OP has been a member since 2009 with 1 post.
Last Visit: day of his post which was may 30th 2014

Until he can prove otherwise...I am going to say his
story is fiction at best. I just do not believe him....

 

There is a PayPal service called Bill Me Later which is available in some countries. From what I've read, it's available in the US and in Canada, where OP claims he is from. However it's not yet available in the United Kingdom where I reside, so I don't have a huge amount of information or first-hand experience with it, however one could reasonably come to the conclusion that this $5,500 could have come from some derivative of the PayPal Bill Me Later scheme?

 

If I am not mistaken, it is just some type of credit card....
and I would imagine you would have to have good credit...
You use paypal, and your payment is applied to your paypal credit card....
(aka buy now, pay later....)

I am not even sure how much credit they offer, even based on excellent credit,
but you are right, if he had the credit, then he could have done this....

 

$5,500? How is that even possible OP?

TC

 

They'd close your account after months. I did owe $560 last year and surprise I can't login anymore when i refuse to pay for it. so I register another account. lol

They never bother about the amount if don't know if they would since its 5K

 

Heya,

It is not a good thing, have you answered them already?

Good Day,
Commoner