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Debt collection judgement, false info, FDCPA violations?

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gingerox

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? CA

(I'm sorry for the lengthy posting, but I need advice please. Thank you!)

I have recently received a call from the law firm of Eskanos & Adler claiming that they have initiated wage garnishment from a judgment on an alleged debt I owe to Discover Card. Among the many inconsistencies in the information they have about me and this alleged debt is an incorrect address where they stated they had sent the summons/paperwork to (or as they said, where I was "subserved"). E&A claim they got the address off a credit report, but I have never lived at or heard of this address before, never received any paperwork from them and therefore was not aware of this judgment or given the opportunity to dispute the validity of it.

My questions are:
1 - the said Discover Card account was closed in September of 2001, but subsequently purchased by 2 other lenders before getting to Eskanos & Adler...if there were any monies owed, hasn't the statute of limitations expired (4 years under California law) and their collection would therefore be invalid and in violation of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) rules?

2 - is it legal for them to have proceeded with this judgment after sending any communication to an invalid address which I have no knowledge of or relation to? (without verifying this address as mine, it seems like it was done intentionally to make it LOOK like the papers got to me even though they did not. Especially for the fact that E&A only called me after the alleged judgment was made and they were calling as an "fyi" about the wage garnishment...convenient how they could finally reach me at the correct location then...willful violation of FDCPA rules?).

3 - haven't they violated a number of other FDCPA rules including: privacy policies from sending legal documents with personal information on it to an unverified address/person(s); contacting my employer about wage garnishment from a judgment I was never aware of; harassing/threatening me at work, and lying...one of E&A's loan collectors said that, "the documents have already been delivered to your employer by the county Sheriff's office and there's nothing we can do to stop them", followed by a conversation I had with that collector's manager who unintentionally confirmed this was untrue and the papers had not been delivered yet, and that they would hold on any wage garnishment until they address issue is sorted).

4 - E&A was adamant about NOT sending me anything in writing from their offices, but asked me to send them a letter stating that I have never lived at the address in question. This again, seems suspicious to me and I don't know what their intent is. Should I instead send Eskanos & Adler a letter verification requisition letter and/or an expired statue of limitations notification letter?

Any advice on the best way to proceed is most welcome. Thank you!!!
 


TigerD

Senior Member
gingerox said:
...

My questions are:
1 - the said Discover Card account was closed in September of 2001, but subsequently purchased by 2 other lenders before getting to Eskanos & Adler...if there were any monies owed, hasn't the statute of limitations expired (4 years under California law) and their collection would therefore be invalid and in violation of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) rules?
No. SOL has nothing to do with FDCPA. SOL is an affirmative defense that YOU have to raise in court.

gingerox said:
2 - is it legal for them to have proceeded with this judgment after sending any communication to an invalid address which I have no knowledge of or relation to? (without verifying this address as mine, it seems like it was done intentionally to make it LOOK like the papers got to me even though they did not. Especially for the fact that E&A only called me after the alleged judgment was made and they were calling as an "fyi" about the wage garnishment...convenient how they could finally reach me at the correct location then...willful violation of FDCPA rules?).
You're out of luck there. It was nice of them to call you though.

gingerox said:
3 - haven't they violated a number of other FDCPA rules including: privacy policies from sending legal documents with personal information on it to an unverified address/person(s); contacting my employer about wage garnishment from a judgment I was never aware of; harassing/threatening me at work, and lying...one of E&A's loan collectors said that, "the documents have already been delivered to your employer by the county Sheriff's office and there's nothing we can do to stop them", followed by a conversation I had with that collector's manager who unintentionally confirmed this was untrue and the papers had not been delivered yet, and that they would hold on any wage garnishment until they address issue is sorted).
If there is a judgement, they have every right to seek garnishment. Crying about how is going to see the paperwork is no good. If they offered to hold the procedings while they checked out the addy thing -- you should be glad. They are givign you the time you need to handle this right.

gingerox said:
4 - E&A was adamant about NOT sending me anything in writing from their offices, but asked me to send them a letter stating that I have never lived at the address in question. This again, seems suspicious to me and I don't know what their intent is. Should I instead send Eskanos & Adler a letter verification requisition letter and/or an expired statue of limitations notification letter?
If there is a judgement, your validation letter is noise.


You are barking up the wrong tree here. You're looking for loopholes tells me that you know you are wrong. First you know if you owe the money -- if so just pay it.

Now:
1. Check with the court to see if there is a judgement.
a. If there is a judgment move to step two.
b. If there isn't a judgement on file, send a letter demanding a copy of the judgement and or skip to step three.
2. Check the proof of service to see how you were served.
a. Go to step three regardless of what you find.
3. Talk to an attorney about the situation.

DC
 

gingerox

Junior Member
Thank you for your reply. I will check with the court to see if there really is a judgment.

So far as proof of how I was allegedly served...it's hearsay. They said they'd sent it, I said I didn't receive it. E&A admitted that they have no evidence that the documents were delivered to me, just to the false address they were using. They simply provided the name of the person who took the documents (again, someone who has the same last name as me, but whom I have never had any sort of affiliation with). In other words, E&A assumed that "Bob Smith" and "Jane Smith" of Los Angeles automatically know each other and forward each other mail because they are both a "Smith." Where's the logic in that?

Also, regardless of any arguable violations of FDCPA rules (which is then a separate issue), the SOL law in California for their enforcement of this alleged debt in the courts has still expired and is therefore invalid. Not a loophole (unless the law itself is a loophole), just a fact. Do you disagree?

I doubt E&A called me out of kindness or common courtesy...just my opinion, but it was perhaps a way of trying to cover one of the many administrative errors they had on their end in terms of the misinformation they had on file about where to locate me. The fact is, without knowledge of this claim/judgment raised against me, I was given no chance to dispute its validity...are you saying that E&A are exempt from the laws of due process?

E&A's "offer" to hold the proceedings of garnishment is contradictory to what their collector originally told me about unstoppable delivery of the documents by the Sheriff's office to my employer...which clearly shows that they are lying and/or threatening action without precedent. Once again, it's not crying about paperwork, it's due process. Please advise if you disagree?

In your opinion or experience, would you see any of these as grounds for the judgment to be vacated? Why/why not? Please advise.

Thank you again for your advice. I know you are stating the assumptions of an experienced debt collector, but the fact is, I do not owe this ridiculous debt and am not looking for loopholes...I'm simply looking to protect myself from a company I have never heard of before who proceeds to make false claims about me, who are unwilling to disclose information they have about me and this judgment, and for all I know, are criminals masked behind the name of a law firm trying to extort my money and violate my civil rights in hopes that I will simply oblige to their ridiculous demands. I hope you wouldn't oblige so quickly in such a situation.
 

TigerD

Senior Member
I don't do judgement collections or handle the legal end of things. My company has lawyers for that.

I would say that -- given the information in your posts -- there are probably some FDCPA violations.

However, you need to pay attention to the possible judgement first. I strongly suggest that you retain an attorney to assist you in working this matter out as you are to close emotionally to handle it properly.

DC
 

Leinalani

Member
gingerox said:
Thank you for your reply. I will check with the court to see if there really is a judgment.

So far as proof of how I was allegedly served...it's hearsay. They said they'd sent it, I said I didn't receive it. E&A admitted that they have no evidence that the documents were delivered to me, just to the false address they were using. They simply provided the name of the person who took the documents (again, someone who has the same last name as me, but whom I have never had any sort of affiliation with). In other words, E&A assumed that "Bob Smith" and "Jane Smith" of Los Angeles automatically know each other and forward each other mail because they are both a "Smith." Where's the logic in that?

If they have a default judgement against you than there has to be some sort of proof of service filed with the courts. I would recommend checking the court documents.


Also, regardless of any arguable violations of FDCPA rules (which is then a separate issue), the SOL law in California for their enforcement of this alleged debt in the courts has still expired and is therefore invalid. Not a loophole (unless the law itself is a loophole), just a fact. Do you disagree?

And there you are wrong. If they have a judgement against you already, the SOL does not apply. The SOL would've applied had you used it as a defense in the court room. But, then again, you don't know when they obtained the judgement against you so that defense could or couldn't have worked.

I doubt E&A called me out of kindness or common courtesy...just my opinion, but it was perhaps a way of trying to cover one of the many administrative errors they had on their end in terms of the misinformation they had on file about where to locate me. The fact is, without knowledge of this claim/judgment raised against me, I was given no chance to dispute its validity...are you saying that E&A are exempt from the laws of due process?

They would have to file a document with the courts verifying that service was provided per your state's laws. Again, go to the courts and take a look at the documents.

E&A's "offer" to hold the proceedings of garnishment is contradictory to what their collector originally told me about unstoppable delivery of the documents by the Sheriff's office to my employer...which clearly shows that they are lying and/or threatening action without precedent. Once again, it's not crying about paperwork, it's due process. Please advise if you disagree?

Collection agencies do a lot to get their money. You can try fighting them but it would probably cost more in legal/attorney fees than if you were to pay your bill. And it wouldn't guarantee that you'd not have to pay the money in the end.

In your opinion or experience, would you see any of these as grounds for the judgment to be vacated? Why/why not? Please advise.

Again, find the documents, look at the dates, the proof of service and decide if you'd like to incurr the cost, stress and aggrevation of it all.

I know you are stating the assumptions of an experienced debt collector, but the fact is, I do not owe this ridiculous debt and am not looking for loopholes...
If this isn't your debt, why are you trying to invalidate it with the SOL?
 

Chien

Senior Member
OP - With due respect, get answers to the questions that DC raised - about there being a judgment and what a Proof of Service says - and post back.

You’re improperly asserting some rights and misstating others. Based on your original post, until you can provide “when, what, why and how” information about a judgment, trying to answer the questions that you continue to post is just guessing.
 

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