When I was a young teenager, I stupidly shoplifted a pack of baseball cards that cost less than $1.00 from Walgreens. I got caught and my mom was called to pick me up. When I received the first civil asset recovery letter, which was asking for less than $30.00, I ignored it because I personally didn't have the money and I didn't want to open past wounds with my parents. That was a huge mistake because a few weeks later, I got a second civil asset recovery letter, which I couldn't hide from my parents (like I did with the first one), that was for $350.00! My parents forked over the money for my stupid mistake and I got punished again.
The moral of the story, of course, is to not shoplift. But if you do and get caught and they send you a civil asset recovery letter and you know you're guilty, pay the first amount and be done with it because if you don't, the amount is going to grow exponentially.

