Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Texas
return of amount mistakenly paid for somebody's Telephone bill
Two months back I moved from Houston to Boston. In Houston I was sharing appartment with my friend 'X' and telephone was on his name. Last Year in Feb he moved to some other CT and transferred the phone on my name. I mid April went out of country for vacation for about a month. Before that I asked one of my friend 'y' to check mails and pay the bills for credit card, phone electricity etc. So in this period my friend paid a telephone bill worth $700/- without checking the name on the bill. the problem is 1. The bill was on person 'z's name to whom I don't recongnise or I don't know till today. 2. The long distance carrier who had sent the bill, I/we (i.e old friend X) had never subscribed 3. The difference between 'Z's number and mine was of area code which had recently changed.
By the time I came back, the check was cashed. So I Called the long distance carrier and told the story and they promised me to investigate and so on. Now Since last year-May, till today I am almost calling every month and they are promising and nothing is happening. It seems that now they have updated their database i.e. unknown 'Z's address with my old address- (is this some kind of fraud?)
So the question is How should I get my money back?
2 Answers from Attorneys
General Civil Litigation
You should sue in small claims court. A concept in law is that money paid by mistakeshould be returned. A legal term for this is unjust enrichment. Since you are under$2000 you can use small claims court.
Refusal to refund would be an Unfair Business Practice
You don't mention the name of the long distance carrier, but if they are doing business in Massachusetts, you can sue in Massachusetts. Before you bring suit, you should consider writing a "93A" demand letter. An attorney can write this for youm, but the amount of money in dispute is not large enough to make it worthwhile to hire an attorney. You can contact the Attorney General's office in Boston, and ask for help in pursuing a "93A" claim. They have some general literature that they can send to you, so that you can see what is required. If the long distance carrier does not respond to the 93A letter, then you can still sue in small claims court, and if the long distance carrier can be shown to be systematically billing and holding money on purpose, you might recover a 2 to 3 times multiple of your damages. There are a few additional facts that make a big difference in what options you have, which were not supplied in your original description.
This message is provided to assist you in structuring your thoughts when you speak with an attorney about your situation. I am not your attorney, and you are not my client, so this is not legal advice. Legal advice can only be given after a careful interview of the client by the attorney, and I have not had the opportunity to understand the significant issues that I must understand to render legal advice. You should contact an attorney in your state to discuss your situation. That attorney can give you the advice that your situation deserves, after carefully considering the issues that are legally significant in your situation.
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