Howards Van Lines Is Threatening Consumers With Collections While Fighting Its Own Eviction

Howards Van Lines (DOT 4391903, MC 1722990) has 166 NCCDB complaints in eight months of operation from a single registered truck. Its warehouse in Leavenworth, Kansas, leased under the name 'Logistic Moving Services LLC,' is the subject of an active eviction proceeding filed by the landlords. Consumer belongings remain inside.

On August 20, 2026, while the warehouse eviction was being litigated, Howards Van Lines sent a formal 'Breach of Contract / Pre-Collections Notice' to a consumer who had cancelled her booking and stopped her deposit payment.

The consumer, Liliana D. (publishing with her permission), booked a move with Howards Van Lines on April 25, 2026. She subsequently cancelled and stopped her deposit payment.

On August 20, Howards sent a formal notice from 'Marlana, Account Specialist' (609-360-5744) declaring the consumer in 'breach of contract' and demanding $1,394.18. The letter stated:

'By initiating a cancellation after payment and confirmation of your scheduled service dates, you are now in breach of contract. As a result, Howards Van Lines retains full rights under federal and state law to enforce payment of all due amounts and recover any losses incurred by your cancellation.'

The letter cited the E-SIGN Act and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act to assert the contract was 'fully binding and enforceable in all jurisdictions.' It threatened:

Referral to a 'licensed collection agency' Attorney fees and court costs Collection agency fees and administrative expenses Judgment interest Impact to personal credit

The letter also invoked a forum selection clause requiring litigation in 'the Circuit or County Court of Essex County, New Jersey,' forcing any consumer who disputes the claim to travel to New Jersey.

A follow-up email from the same 'Marlana' offered an 80% settlement: 'I am authorized to accept 80% of the outstanding balance, $1,115.34, as Settlement in Full.' The email framed this as a favor: 'I would much rather work with you toward a resolution than see the account proceed further through the collections process.'

The $1,394.18 is not for a move that was performed. No truck arrived. No belongings were loaded. No transportation occurred. The charge is for a 'reservation payment' that, according to Howards, 'secured allotted space/capacity and committed scheduling and routing resources for your shipment.'

Howards operates one registered truck. The concept of 'allotted space/capacity' on a single box truck, for a move that was cancelled before it occurred, is the basis for the $1,394.18 demand.

The consumer stopped her payment. Under the contract's 'Payment Policies & Disclosures,' a stopped or returned payment is identified as a 'material breach of the agreement.' The consumer who decided not to use a company with 166 federal complaints is now being told she breached a contract by protecting herself.

On the same day Howards sent this collections notice, KMBC Kansas City reported that the warehouse at 501 Olive Street in Leavenworth, Kansas, where consumer belongings shipped by Howards and related companies are stored, was the subject of an active eviction proceeding. The landlords filed eviction papers against Logistic Moving Services LLC, the entity leasing the warehouse.

All consumer items remain inside the warehouse. The landlords' hands are tied by the court proceedings. No consumer can retrieve their belongings.

Howards Van Lines is demanding $1,394 from a consumer who cancelled a booking, while other consumers' belongings are locked in a warehouse that the company's affiliated entity is being evicted from. The company that cannot pay its own rent is threatening consumers with collections, attorney fees, and credit damage.

The collections letter is not improvised. It is a template designed to extract money from consumers who cancel.

The legal citations (E-SIGN Act, UETA) are real statutes but are cited to intimidate, not to inform. They establish that electronic signatures are valid. They do not make a one-sided, non-refundable deposit clause enforceable in all circumstances.

The 80% 'settlement' offer is a standard debt collection tactic. The initial demand is inflated, and the 'discount' makes the consumer feel they are getting a deal. The consumer pays $1,115 for a move that never happened, and the company books it as revenue.

The forum selection clause (Essex County, New Jersey) ensures that no consumer will actually litigate. A consumer in Florida or Texas who disputes $1,394 is not going to fly to New Jersey to argue in court. The clause exists to prevent disputes, not to resolve them.

The contact phone number (609-360-5744) has a New Jersey area code. The company address is 141 Lanza Ave, Garfield NJ 07026. The sales representative 'Jorge' who originally books consumers uses 201-590-7926. The operation runs out of New Jersey while consumers' belongings end up in warehouses in Kansas and Georgia.

If you receive a collections notice from Howards Van Lines or any moving company for a cancelled booking:

1. Do not pay. A threatening letter is not a court order. The company must sue you and win a judgment before it can collect.

2. File a complaint with FMCSA at nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov. The collections threat itself may constitute a deceptive business practice.

3. If you paid by credit card, your chargeback rights override the contract's 'non-refundable' clause in most circumstances where services were not rendered.

4. File a complaint with your state attorney general's consumer protection division. Cite the company's 166 NCCDB complaints and the pending warehouse eviction.

5. Do not be intimidated by legal citations. The E-SIGN Act and UETA establish that electronic signatures are valid. They do not make every clause in every contract enforceable.

6. If the company threatens your credit, know that you can dispute any negative report with the credit bureaus. A disputed debt from a company with 166 federal complaints and a pending eviction is not a strong basis for a collections action.

7. Consider filing a claim against the broker's $75,000 surety bond (Form BMC-84). The bond explicitly covers 'shippers' when the broker fails to carry out its contracts. A template is available at trunk.lorea.ai/insights/template-surety-bond-claim.