Garnishment from very old car repo

[prairdon]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
Hi, my wife just got hit with a garnishment on a car she had repossessed 17 years ago. She had less than a weeks notice before the payments started coming out of her check and she is being hit for 25%. There are a few things that don't sit right for me with this one. The company said that a judgment was made against her in December of 2013. They claimed that she was properly served yet we did not receive any service for this court date . It is furthermore suspect because when she contacted them to try and prevent the garnishment the only address they had for her was one that we haven't lived at since 2006. They also claim that they called her about a year ago and because at that time she asked what it was about that qualifies as acknowledgement of debit and therefor renewed it. They now refused to work with her stating that a year ago she said she would call them back and never did. She does not remember this conversation. My question is, can they do this and is there any recourse we can take to stop it? Thank you.

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
Hi, my wife just got hit with a garnishment on a car she had repossessed 17 years ago. She had less than a weeks notice before the payments started coming out of her check and she is being hit for 25%. There are a few things that don't sit right for me with this one. The company said that a judgment was made against her in December of 2013. They claimed that she was properly served yet we did not receive any service for this court date . It is furthermore suspect because when she contacted them to try and prevent the garnishment the only address they had for her was one that we haven't lived at since 2006. They also claim that they called her about a year ago and because at that time she asked what it was about that qualifies as acknowledgement of debit and therefor renewed it. They now refused to work with her stating that a year ago she said she would call them back and never did. She does not remember this conversation. My question is, can they do this and is there any recourse we can take to stop it? Thank you.

Did you obtain a copy of the file to see how service was perfected?

 

[prairdon]

Did you obtain a copy of the file to see how service was perfected?

She asked them for both a copy of the judgment and proof of service but they have given her the run around. The number they said to call always goes to a voice mail and she has left may messages without any response. I don't know if there is a way to obtain that elsewhere.

 

[Zigner]

She asked them for both a copy of the judgment and proof of service but they have given her the run around. The number they said to call always goes to a voice mail and she has left may messages without any response. I don't know if there is a way to obtain that elsewhere.

They are under no obligation to provide it. She will need to get it from the court where the judgment was entered.

 

[prairdon]

They are under no obligation to provide it. She will need to get it from the court where the judgment was entered.

What kind of case is this considered? Civil or something else?

 

[Zigner]

What kind of case is this considered? Civil or something else?

This is a civil case

 

[prairdon]

This is a civil case

Thank you for the response. The garnishment papers she got from her company say it was filed in LA. We live in Sacramento. I went on the LA web site and did a search and it came up with nothing.

 

[Zigner]

Thank you for the response. The garnishment papers she got from her company say it was filed in LA. We live in Sacramento. I went on the LA web site and did a search and it came up with nothing.

She should check using the case number.

When you say "LA", do you mean L.A. (Los Angeles) or LA (Louisiana)?

 

[prairdon]

She should check using the case number.

When you say "LA", do you mean L.A. (Los Angeles) or LA (Louisiana)?

Sorry, Los Angeles.

 

[questionforu2]

They sued you in the wrong county, if they're not the original creditor, it's an easy FDCPA violation worth $1000. Maybe you can find an attorney to help you get rid of that judgment with that $1000 and the attorney fees they could get from the plaintiff.

 

[Zigner]

They sued you in the wrong county...

You have no idea if this statement is correct.

 

[prairdon]

I was able to find the case number and it looks like they did go through the Sacramento court. I think she is out of luck on this after looking at the paperwork but I do still have one question on it. It shows they have renewed the judgement. I'm wondering what the basis is they used to be able to renew it? I thought you had to have some kind of acknowledgment of debt to be able to renew it.

 

[Zigner]

I was able to find the case number and it looks like they did go through the Sacramento court. I think she is out of luck on this after looking at the paperwork but I do still have one question on it. It shows they have renewed the judgement. I'm wondering what the basis is they used to be able to renew it? I thought you had to have some kind of acknowledgment of debt to be able to renew it.

She's not dealing with a "collection" matter. She's dealing with a JUDGMENT.

 

[Zigner]

They sued you in the wrong county, if they're not the original creditor, it's an easy FDCPA violation worth $1000. Maybe you can find an attorney to help you get rid of that judgment with that $1000 and the attorney fees they could get from the plaintiff.

I guess now is the time for you to acknowledge you were wrong and to apologize to the OP for your incorrect guess.

I was able to find the case number and it looks like they did go through the Sacramento court.

 

[questionforu2]

I guess now is the time for you to acknowledge you were wrong and to apologize to the OP for your incorrect guess.

Nope. It wasn't a guess at all, the OP posted they filed in Los Angeles when I made that post:
https://forum.freeadvice.com/debt-collections-84/garnishment-very-old-car-repo-613316.html#post3325985