I may not have known what I was getting in to, when my husband joined the military....but this is ridiculous! It is next to impossible to defend yourself (as a family) from being ripped off by large companies or by the miitary itself! We are getting taken advantage of because we ARE a military family. No one wants to help....especially not the legal department on base! They might actually have to work!? I've allready started the research!
Here it is: We were stationed in VA for about 7 months, while my husband finished his training. We lived in an apartment off base. We had to sign a one year lease agreement ( they wouldn't budge). They knew and we knew, that my husband and I would only be there for six months.They of course say "no problem we have a military clause".....no penalty if you are stationed out of city or state...blah blah blah. We clean out the apartment do a walkthrough and sign something that says the apartment was fine. (and show them a copy of his orders) We leave for TX. No problem. Wrong!! 6 months later, someone puts a hold on about $680 from our account. (We live on a VERY tight budget.) We received no notice of this...no phone call and no letters. They had the phone number... it was the same one....and a forwarding address...
We were not given our due process. They decided to skip that step. In fact, legal fees are included in the money they garnished. How nice.
Started to do research on who I was dealing with. What I found is astonishing! You do the math: This one apartment complex has 202 units, they sued about 184 families in just 13 months. All of which is a matter of public record, easily accessable via the interrnet! My favorite part: all of those I checked further into (about 45) were ALL military families stationed out of state and ALL had the same bank. Could this be mere coincidence? I have my doubts! I have been trying to get outside help, maybe like a class action lawsuit. No luck. Why is it so hard to find help here? Why is the Navy shying away from this? Instead, they tell us to shut up and pay our bills. We don't owe them this money, just because THEY say we do. Where's the protection? I thought the Navy protected those that serve this country? Instead, they feed them to the wolves, because it might not look good, that so many military families have been affected by this?
I did find other things in my search, like the management company that owns the apartment complex in question, is owned by a very wealthy man who ran for political office. He lost, and spent a very large amount of money. Something like, 1.2 million dollars! From what I understand, he lost miserably and ran a very shady campaign. It makes me wonder....who do we have in office now. What kind of businesses are our political office holders running? Should we be watching them more closely. I don't follow politics much, but maybe I should start....this is a very big eye opener for me.
Just take a look at Haliburton....
There are so many useless law suits going on in this country, but military members are not allowed to "actively pursue" law suits just to protect themselves!? This is why it has to be a class action law suit.....well that and we can't afford to pay for representation!
We have tried a few avenues, and there are a few more to try. I hope that someone out there is interested in protecting those that protect this country. I haven't given up yet. But I am beginning to feel like I should.
Everyone was so big on "Support Our Military "
There was no real support there! Most companies did this to pull more business in!
