Bulk Mail Barrage an Act of Revenge, 2 Allege in Suit

Payback allegedly came in the form of bulk mail--a fashion wigs catalog, a cheerleading magazine and a palmtop computer, for starters.

A National Rifle Assn. membership, a vacuum, Blade magazine for gays . . .

Attorney Philip L. Hummel IV and his client, Christine Browning, say they have been barraged with more than 150 unwanted mail order items between the two of them at their offices in Orange. They blame the ongoing bombardment on John W. Meiling, against whom they had won a Small Claims Court case, according to a lawsuit Hummel and Browning filed in Orange County Superior Court this month.

Since late September, Meiling has sent unpaid books, association memberships and other items to Hummel and Browning “to maliciously and vindictively avenge them,” according to the lawsuit, which asks for more than $50,000 in damages.

“It’s not like a one-time college prank type of deal,” Hummel said Monday. “It’s a repeated thing. . . . It’s kind of scary. Why would someone have that much time on their hands that they can’t use constructively?”

Meiling, a San Clemente resident, could not be reached for comment.

The mail order onslaught began after Meiling was ordered to pay a $500 judgment to Browning, Hummel said.

Meiling, a landlord, had sued Browning’s son, Jason, his tenant, in a dispute regarding rent and a security deposit. With Hummel’s help, Christine Browning counter-sued and won the case on Sept. 13.

Less than two weeks later, Hummel received a gift subscription to “Sports Illustrated for Kids,” with Browning named as the sender. He called to thank her but Browning said she didn’t send it--and, by the way, she had been getting all sorts of stuff in the mail at her office that she hadn’t ordered.

Hummel called names listed as senders on gift subscriptions and found that some were previous tenants of Meiling’s who knew nothing about the gifts. The tenants complained that they also had been flooded with unauthorized mail order items, Hummel said.

With each delivery, Hummel contacted the mail order companies and associations, which sent him copies of application forms filled out in his and Browning’s names, some with forged signatures, others affixed with printed address labels in their names, Hummel said.

“I’m a member of every association in the world,” he joked.

Both have spent hours returning items and canceling orders and subscriptions, Hummel said. Both worry that their good credit ratings will turn bad as they try to keep up with returning and canceling things.

Hummel also is working with federal postal officials and other law enforcement authorities on possible mail fraud charges against Meiling. All this, he suspects, from someone “who never even met me.”