As we have said for some time now a retailer may sue you if you fail to pay Civil Demand. The post below is proof of that taken from thelaw.com forum.
thelaw.com wrote:Jurisdiction / State: New York
In 2009, I was living in New York and was caught stealing a few things from Sephora. I hadn't left the store but I was taken by a man at the front door to the back office. There, the female manager gave me a lecture, I put the items back, and signed a 'no trespassing' agreement. There were no police, I was simply asked to avoid that particular store and if I was caught again legal action would be pursued. Now, 4 years late I received a series of letters demanding 500 dollars, immediately, and as I was relocating I never got the letters. It escalated to around 800, and when I failed to respond, NY got a court order to garnish 1400 from my bank account, essentially leaving me broke. Are they allowed to do that? I know they can send recovery letters, as an attempt to recover lost earnings, but can they actually get a court order and garnish my bank account (at 1400 dollars, when all merchandise was promptly put back), simply because I didn't receive the letters? Any advice would be appreciated, I do believe I need to hire a civil lawyer, but I'd like to know if I can get that money back.