Complaint Review: Weltman Weinberg & Reis - Cincinnati Ohio

Problem is, this company bought? aquired this debt after another collector let it go. That company knew of our circumstances.  

Take a look at the paperwork you have on this collection.  It sounds like they have already recceived a judgment against you. Judgements last for a very long time, 10 years in some jurisdictions and 20 years in others plus renewals for 10 or 20 years respectively.  Look up your state's statutes to see how long judgements last in your area.  Then take a look at the public records under your name to see if there is an open judgement against you. Judgments accrue interest the entire time they are unpaid. There is a maximum statutory rate for the interest on judgments.

If there is, you can negotiate judgements just like other debt.  You may need a consumer attorney to help you. If you do it on your own, make sure you get a Satisfaction of Judgment recorded when you pay so they can't keep coming after you for the same debt. 

You will also need to check with a consumer attorney about the garnishment. I don't think they can collect against social security funds but there are rules that you have to follow to protect your funds. Contact an attorney to help you right away. 

PS. Zombie debt is something else. It is a collection that is past the SOL but not a judgment.  Judgments are something else entirely.  

I am sorry to say but you are a bit misinformed about a few things.

First off the 6 Years you are talking about is the Statute of Limitiations for the debt, and if nothing happened in that 6 years you would be correct it would basically be uncollectable.  However, since they did sue you within 6 years and got a legal judgement against you then that 6 year SOL no longer matters.  What matters is the SOL for the judgement.  In Indiana the Statute of Limitations is 10 years, and it is renewable.  Which means after the initial 10 years the creditor can go back and request an extention for another 10 years. 

So while normally in a case where you didn't go to court and didn't know about the judgement where things such as proper service could come into play. It appears you went to court and lost.  So unfortunatly what ever reason, justification or case as to why you don't owe this money was not enough to keep the judgement from being ordered.

As for your SSI funds.  Again you are correct that they are "protected" in most cases.  However, if your funds get deposited to your Checking Account...ONLY those funds protected in your checking account are protected.  Once you take them out of that account, and any other funds in any other account(even if they are "linked") are NOT protected and totally valid for the company to go after.

Now, did they go through your mailbox.  Well I won't say that they didn't, but I will say that contrary to what you may think you are not that important to them.  So I seriously doubt they put any effort to look at what magazines you purchased only to call you about one of them.  They can legally get so much more information on you from behind their desk they don't need to go through that effort. 

However, if you want to continue to be paranoid you can.  Perhaps it is someone else who wants to let you know they know what you read?  Or perhaps it was a marketing call from a 3rd party who got your name/number from the magazine company.  Or perhaps it was the magazine company itself.

I will leave you with one other thing.  If this is truly causing a hardship for you, then you may want to think about declaring bankrutpcy.  Oh and don't go off on any "pride" issues, there are times when you have done what ever you can do and it is time to consider using other legal means to help you out.