Northern Leasing Systems says it has met with the Missouri Attorney General's Office to address allegations contained in a recently filed lawsuit.

On April 16, Monitordaily.com reported that Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon filed suit in St. Louis City Circuit Court against Northern Leasing Systems alleging the company defrauded dozens of Missouri small businesses that leased its credit card swiping machines.

The allegations in Nixon's lawsuit include charges that the company altered contracts signed by Missouri businesses in order to obligate them to four-year leases that could not be canceled and to pay as much as $4,000 for a machine worth about $300.

Following the meeting with the Assistant Attorney General in St. Louis last week, Northern Leasing reported that the two parties are working closely towards a swift and complete resolution of the issues that sparked the filing. As a result of the meeting, a hearing for injunctive relief previously scheduled for April 20th was postponed.

According to the company, a number of key misunderstandings involving complainants in the suit were resolved during the meeting itself.

The Attorney General's Office said it received 23 complaints about Northern Leasing's practice, and hinted that more victims may be forthcoming.

In a statement received by Monitordaily.com, Northern Leasing said two of the merchants named in the action settled their differences with the company prior to the filing of the suit.

"Northern Leasing Systems has always prided itself on the fairness of its business practices and the open dialogue it fosters and maintains with its customers, financial partners and, of course, governmental agencies," said Jay Cohen, CEO of Northern Leasing Systems, in the statement. "We have hundreds of thousand of customers. Inevitably, there will be instances of customer complaints - justified or not."

The company said it will continue to work with the AG's Office to resolve customers complaints.

Previously on monitordaily.com:

4/16/2007 - Missouri AG Files Fraud Suit Against New York Equipment Lessor