Craziest thing I have seen

[bray61]

What is the name of your state? CA. In 2006, my wife's ex-husband tried to fight me at a football game. He threw a heavy object at me and it hit my 15 month old daughter in the head. Needless to say I beat him up and he went to jail and was eventually convicted. I then sued him in small claims and won a $5,000 judgment. Time went by, he never paid and I did not aggressively go after him. In 2017, I received a piece of mail from a company that said they would go after the judgment and add interest for a total of about $9,500 and we would split it. On the third line of the document, it said "you have 30 days of the date of this contact is signed to follow through and assign the judgment." That is not a typo, it says contact not contract. So I signed it and sent it in. I never heard back from the company, I figured they were not able to collect from the guy either so I have not thought about it.

Last night, a process server serves me with a summons and this company is demanding that I pay them $4,250 for their half of the judgment. They state that they went through considerable legal and financial expenses by sending me an additional form to sign, which I never received. I never initiated any contact with them. They apparently researched my case in local court records and contacted me. When I received the initial letter, I assumed it meant that I had 30 days to sign from initial contact because the original judgment was going to expire after 10 years.

Any opinions????

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? CA. In 2006, my wife's ex-husband tried to fight me at a football game. He threw a heavy object at me and it hit my 15 month old daughter in the head. Needless to say I beat him up and he went to jail and was eventually convicted. I then sued him in small claims and won a $5,000 judgment. Time went by, he never paid and I did not aggressively go after him. In 2017, I received a piece of mail from a company that said they would go after the judgment and add interest for a total of about $9,500 and we would split it. On the third line of the document, it said "you have 30 days of the date of this contact is signed to follow through and assign the judgment." That is not a typo, it says contact not contract. So I signed it and sent it in. I never heard back from the company, I figured they were not able to collect from the guy either so I have not thought about it.

Last night, a process server serves me with a summons and this company is demanding that I pay them $4,250 for their half of the judgment. They state that they went through considerable legal and financial expenses by sending me an additional form to sign, which I never received. I never initiated any contact with them. They apparently researched my case in local court records and contacted me. When I received the initial letter, I assumed it meant that I had 30 days to sign from initial contact because the original judgment was going to expire after 10 years.

Any opinions????

Yeah, tell them to pound sand. If they never collected any money from the guy they have no basis to ask you for anything.

 

[doucar]

I respectfully disagree with LdiJ. You have been sued and served. You need to respond to the summons and complaint before they take a default judgment against you.

 

[LdiJ]

I respectfully disagree with LdiJ. You have been sued and served. You need to respond to the summons and complaint before they take a default judgment against you.

He did not say that he had been sued. He said that they demanded money. I agree, if he has actually been sued then he has to respond to the suit.

I would suggest in that case, that he get an attorney and counter sue for attorney fees. This is a scam, pure and simple.

 

[quincy]

He did not say that he had been sued. He said that they demanded money. I agree, if he has actually been sued then he has to respond to the suit.

I would suggest in that case, that he get an attorney and counter sue for attorney fees. This is a scam, pure and simple.

He was served last night.

 

[LdiJ]

He was served last night.

Maybe...do you not understand that scammers can "serve" something that looks really official but is actually nothing?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state? CA. ..

Last night, a process server serves me with a summons and this company is demanding that I pay them $4,250 for their half of the judgment ...

"Maybe?"

What do you think is meant by what is quoted above?

A summons is served as notice to appear in court.

 

[justalayman]

Maybe...do you not understand that scammers can "serve" something that looks really official but is actually nothing?

And those scams use process servers? The scams I’m aware of are mailed.

Unless you know for certain this is a scam, stop suggesting the op ignore it. The op has the means to verify the validity of the suit and should do so.

 

[adjusterjack]

The op has the means to verify the validity of the suit and should do so.

Right. All the OP has to do is call the courthouse to verify that the lawsuit has been filed.

 

[quincy]

Right. All the OP has to do is call the courthouse to verify that the lawsuit has been filed.

That is certainly a far wiser course of action to take than ignoring the summons.

 

[bray61]

Update....this is a real suit in civil limited. I filed my response and counter sued. Waiting on a court date. This is being done by two California attorney's who opened a company in Arizona. They established the company to create legal relationships with judgment creditors and then hire themselves to represent the company. They avoid registering as a law firm yet this company, which only employ's these two attorney's and they are the owners, is in the practice of law on behalf of creditors but they are not regulated like a California law firm would be. I have also filed a complaint with the State Bar and this company's website has since been taken down. We will see what happens.

 

[quincy]

Update....this is a real suit in civil limited. I filed my response and counter sued. Waiting on a court date. This is being done by two California attorney's who opened a company in Arizona. They established the company to create legal relationships with judgment creditors and then hire themselves to represent the company. They avoid registering as a law firm yet this company, which only employ's these two attorney's and they are the owners, is in the practice of law on behalf of creditors but they are not regulated like a California law firm would be. I have also filed a complaint with the State Bar and this company's website has since been taken down. We will see what happens.

Thanks for the update and additional information, bray61.

I think you were smart to file a complaint with the state Bar.

If you have the time, let us know what happens.

 

[bray61]

Update. I went to a settlement conference yesterday and both sides agreed to walk away incurring our own costs. I argued that this person initiated contact with me as an attorney and made promises as an attorney but he felt he did not have an attorney-client relationship since he created this company but the problem is that the company practices law. At the same time I had the ethics complaint with the State Bar and that issue is currently being reviewed by the Chief Trial Attorney. He was suing me for $4,800 and I filed a cross complaint for the same amount but he had more to lose with the ethics complaint. We had gone through discovery and trial was set for next month. I did not hire an attorney, I just read as much as I could and filed my own answers, motions, etc. I am out $225 in filing fees but it's better than losing $4,800 in trial. I felt I didn't do too bad since this guy has been practicing law for 25 years. Glad it's over.....

 

[quincy]

Update. I went to a settlement conference yesterday and both sides agreed to walk away incurring our own costs. I argued that this person initiated contact with me as an attorney and made promises as an attorney but he felt he did not have an attorney-client relationship since he created this company but the problem is that the company practices law. At the same time I had the ethics complaint with the State Bar and that issue is currently being reviewed by the Chief Trial Attorney. He was suing me for $4,800 and I filed a cross complaint for the same amount but he had more to lose with the ethics complaint. We had gone through discovery and trial was set for next month. I did not hire an attorney, I just read as much as I could and filed my own answers, motions, etc. I am out $225 in filing fees but it's better than losing $4,800 in trial. I felt I didn't do too bad since this guy has been practicing law for 25 years. Glad it's over.....

It sounds like you represented yourself well. Congratulations!

Thanks for the update, bray61.

 

[Cagarden]

Wowsers!

So if I understand correctly, this guy/company contacts judgement holders to assign over their judgment entitlement to him/it, then bills (or sues) them instead for the split he should have sent them after recovery, by slyly wording the ambigous contact/contract. Madness.

is there any way to find out who/how-many else he/this-company sued for fees/collection efforts despite collecting anything?