Steve
Bradenton,#2Consumer Suggestion
Fri, August 15, 2008
Wayne, This is a common scam and is easy to beat them at their own game, and you can even get paid for your damages. Keep good records of all costs and damages. Stay off the phone! EVERYTHING must be done IN WRITING and should be sent by certified mail, return reciept requested. Be sure to put the certified number on each letter and keep a copy of each for your records. This procedure is VERY important and should be followed exactly for best results. Also, NEVER sign anything sent to any collector or other scam outfit. What happened to you is known as "sewer service". The fact that nothing is on your credit report means absolutely nothing. There is no legal requirement to put something on someones credit report before suing and/or getting a judgement. "Sewer service" is when you are "served" at a known old or even bogus address. They get the "proof" of "good service" and when you don't show up in court because you never actually got served, they move for am immediate default judgement against you and subsequent garnishment. Your mistake was talking to them on the phone years ago instead of doing your dispute in writing, by the means above. This is exactly why you NEVER speak to any collector on the phone. It leaves no paper trail, and no evidence of any conversation proving you disputed the collection. Now, here's what you do to ruin their day. 1. Go to the courthouse and get whatever documents were filed in order for them to get the garnishment order. You need to get EVERYTHING!!! Initial summons, lawsuit, default judgement, motions, and garnishment order. You MUST get it all. 2. Examina all documents carefully, paying special attention to the summons and proof of service affidavit. I would bet it has a bad address for you on it. If that is the case, by the means above, file a notice with the court that the subsequent judgement and garnishment order were obtained fraudulently by means of falsified documents. Also file a notice of complaint, and request for criminal prosecution of the parties who prepared and filed the falsified documents with the court, as this is a FELONY. Now file BAR ASSOCIATION complaints against all lawyers involved. Gather copies of all above documents and attach to your notice of appeal of garnishment that will go to your employer, payroll company, and the court who ordered the garnishment. ***Close any existing bank accounts and open new ones AT A DIFFERENT BANK. DO THIS IMMEDIATELY or they can clean you out!! This is very important.*** If you can get another job easily in your field, it is best to do it immediately and not tell anyone where you are working or banking. This is the easiest way to stop a garnishment order! [Temporarily]. Now, at this point you may have to get a lawyer to squash the garnishment order. You can do it yourself, but you will really have to do some legal research, and spend some time and money going to court. At least you have already done the legwork and have all the research done and letters prepared so your lawyer does not have to do so much, which will keep your costs down. Then you can sue for damages later to recoup your money. Good luck!!
Nikki
Lowell,#3Consumer Suggestion
Fri, August 15, 2008
If a judgement was made in your absence, you need to call the City court of whichever city the judgement was made in. You may then request all the information pertaining to that case. (Some places may even fax it to you or if you're still living in the area, you may go and get it in person). Check the information and make sure they followed all procedures. (I'm willing to bet they didn't.) You should have recieved a summons IN PERSON to appear in court. If you were not in court, that is why there was a default judgement. I had a similar situation with Mullooly Jeffrey et al and when I got the information from the court, they claimed that they had served me with a summons IN PERSON and it turned out that was a lie(perjury) because I had already moved out of state. There is a portion in that paperwork, where they have to descibe the person that they served in person. I had a good laugh when I saw my description. First of all they got my gender wrong, my race and my weight and height were so far off it was obvious they had made it up! If you never received a summons, you can file an ORDER TO VACATE JUDGEMENT. You don't necessarily have to have a lawyer, you just need the right information.I did not retain a lawyer, I just got legal consultation and after all is said and done, I could have gotten that sae information online. This happened to me and they took thousands out of my account and froze it but as I write this, all my money has been returned and I am now in a position to sue the law firm and the Creditor they were representing. The reason why I am in the position to sue them is that they broke several FTC rules and committed fraud and purgury all so they could get their grubby hands on my money! The funny thing is that the debt was not even valid! YOU CAN FIGHT THIS-I DID AND I WON! I am willing to help with as much information as I can.