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False Judgment made against me

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ashleywilkes

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
My bank account was frozne by a Debt Collection attorney for a debt that I do not believe is mine (Nowhere on my credit report). I got a hold of the judgement against me from the bank, called the county for which it is in (NY State!) and they have nothing on file for me. The index# on my case is not even correct, or my address. Not sure what to do from here.
 


ashleywilkes

Junior Member
False Judgement made against me

Yes. 52 times to be exact. No one answers the phone & their automated system is broken. Correction: I did get a hold of them 1 time, thus far. They did not seem to care that the courthouse where they went to for this judgement did not have a file on me and were not able to provide me with the case file or the affidavit of service and said that "it was not there problem". They then wanted all my bank account information, place of employment, etc!! I promptly hung up on them thinking and still thinking that I have been duped or am on that show "Candid camera" The lawyer is Mel. S. Harris. What do I do from here? How can I get the "freeze" taken off of my account? Now that I live in California, can I take them to court here in Los Angeles?
 
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ashleywilkes

Junior Member
The judgement date is 11/5/2008 in Rome, NY for some reason. I have never set foot there or anywhere near there and have lived in LA, CA for 7 months now
 

cosine

Senior Member
The bank should have been given a specific case number when that attorney requested the account to be frozen. Contact the bank (visiting in person is best because you can more readily put them on notice that this may well be fraud if it isn't a mistake of identity) and ask them for the information. Tell the bank that you have already contacted the court in question and that the court has no record, and you wish for the bank itself to verify that there is or is not an actual judgment in place.

While I have never come across a case of someone freezing an account with a fraudulent (non-existent) judgment, I do know of a couple cases where attempts to collect on judgments were applied to the wrong person (e.g. the judgment was probably valid, but the collection in the judgment was made against a different person of the same name than the one the judgment was against). I also know of numerous cases of collection agencies committing outright fraud (and almost all of them are law office collection agencies ... lawyers know more about how to violate the law and get away with it, presumably) in various other ways, so it would not surprise me if fraudulent judgments are being done too. I cannot say what is going on in your specific case because I don't know enough about it.

If the judgment exists and specifically identifies you, you will need to have it vacated. You will need a lawyer for that. If you cannot afford one, you might qualify for free legal assistance at one of various legal clinics that might be in your area. You can also get free initial consultation from many lawyers.

If the judgment exists but names someone else, it can be just as complicated. See above about getting lawyer help.

But definitely be pro-active in putting the bank on notice that you believe the judgment to be false in some form (e.g. does not exist, or names someone else, or was fraudulently obtained without service).

If your employer does direct deposit to your account, be sure to have that stopped immediately. Likewise any other automated payments to you need to cease going to that account.

Do not judge the bank itself for freezing the account. Judge it instead on how well they act to help you through this. The law requires them to act in certain ways. If you find the bank does not do well to help you (for example, resisting providing the information needed for you to track down the problem), then by all means at the end of this, close the account and never bank there again. A good bank will work with you within their legal requirements.

With regard to the attorney's office, you did the correct thing by not providing them with any information. Did you get their address? If so, write them a letter demanding a copy of the judgment. Send the letter certified with return receipt and signature required. If you didn't get the address, call them again and demand it. The information from the bank should also provide this.
 

ashleywilkes

Junior Member
Yes. I got a copy of the "Judgment" from my bank, however, they gave it to me with much protest insisting that I call the lawyer suing me instead and did not believe me when I told them that the lawyer's office was not answering their phone.

The bank is an online savings bank and although they have local branches through out America, when I went in one demanding a copy of the Judgment, they obliged me, however, reminded me that the branches and the on-line services are completely separate.

I then called the county for which the Judgement in supposedly on file, based on the paperwork received from the bank. I gave them my case number and name and asked for copies of the case file and affidavit of service. They said there was nothing to provide me b/c there was nothing showing any case against me and they did not have my name on file.

Honestly, the account that was frozen was an emergency savings account that I do not need to tap into, fortunately. I want to know how to get the judgement thrown out, and how to get this law firm put in prison for this. Isnt this a federal offense? I also paid to have my name looked up Nationally to see if there are any Judgements against me elsewhere and I did not come up in any Data Base.
 

cyjeff

Senior Member
Most likely, it is just a mistake.

Someone thought you were the person they were looking for and/or got a SS number wrong or something.

This is going to be a bit hard to unravel.

I would get an attorney in the same city as the law firm to look into it. Insist upon repayment of legal fees as part of the process.... you probably won't get em, but it is worth looking for.
 

TigerD

Senior Member
The OP's story doesn't ring true.
for a debt that I do not believe is mine
This doesn't read to me as it isn't her debt, just that she disputed it and ignored it until she was sued and lost.

The judgment date is 11/5/2008 in Rome, NY for some reason. I have never set foot there or anywhere near there and have lived in LA, CA for 7 months now
How long ago did you live in New York state?

OP you did not get a copy of the judgment from the bank. At best you got a copy of the order freezing your account.

The OP may have grounds for vacating the judgment based on bad service, but the question remains as to whether or not she has any valid defenses to the debt.

DC
 

ashleywilkes

Junior Member
I agree, however, the debt is not mine, it is no where on my credit report, etc. I moved from NY to LA about 7-8 months ago. Even if I received the Order of Restraint from the bank, the case # and court house should still be on file somewhere......correct?
 

cosine

Senior Member
The OP's story doesn't ring true.

This doesn't read to me as it isn't her debt, just that she disputed it and ignored it until she was sued and lost.
You so frequently say such things. Just because in YOUR past job you dealt with people who were mostly scumbags and slimeballs does NOT mean everyone is.


How long ago did you live in New York state?
OP stated she has never been near Rome NY. What other facts have you tracked down about her?

Of course, just because the attorney dealing with this is in Rome NY, does not mean the judgment was from Rome NY. She needs to get the particulars of the judgment and proceed from there.

OP you did not get a copy of the judgment from the bank. At best you got a copy of the order freezing your account.

The OP may have grounds for vacating the judgment based on bad service, but the question remains as to whether or not she has any valid defenses to the debt.
If it really is her debt, then of course she has no valid defenses against it (though the judgment may still be vacated if she can show there was no service ... and then she could be sued again).

The order freezing the account should identify the judgment and thus the court and appropriate number. If THAT court has no such record, then something is wrong and this smells like a fraudulent activity. While mistakes can happen, if this was done with a non-existent judgment, then is more than just a mistake.
 

ashleywilkes

Junior Member
Although I would gladly pay that, I currently do not have the funds to do so. (Just lost my job right before the holidays) There is no way to pursue this on my own? I unfortunately have all darn day to do so.
 

ashleywilkes

Junior Member
What really gets me is if the Debt Lawyer is so pursuint on getting money from me, why didnt he just call me or write me? I moved, but I left a fowarding address with the post office and my new address has been on my credit report for 3 months now. However, depsite my move, my phone number has not changed at all. It seems like a lot of trouble on their part to try to get me to pay a lousy $825.33 they claim I owe them after interest!!!
 

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