@Open123 wrote:My guess is "sewer" service with default judgement. Happens all the time.
If you can show procedures weren't followed for proper service, you can have the judgement vacated.
Well, I found out what courts issued the judgements. On one they claimed to have served me personally, which is quite interesting in that on the day they "served" me, I was in Shanghai, China (and my passport reflects this). The other says I was "alternately" served. The clerk at the courthouse told me I need to travel to MI to file an objection to garnishment. Ugh....looks like I need an attorney. 
@crunching_numbers wrote:Are you even sure this is tied to your SSN and not someone else with your name?
Get a lawyer ASAP. Wow. That is just awful! Obviously a fraud or mistake case, but the bank followed the court, and the court "believed" the documents that were presented to it. I wonder who the CA is?
That's a very good question. When I talked to the collection outfit, they asked to "verify" my SS# and I refused to give it.
There are a number of things to do. Filing the police report re: identity theft is essential. Contacting the card issuers and filing a complaint with their fraud department indicating you never opened these accounts, filing a dispute through your credit reports, and appearing in the court to reopen the case due to lack of service. This is quite a common problem where collections get default judgements on people who were not properly served and failed to appear in court. I know in NY courts they even have a preprinted form you can fill ut to reopen the case. Then the collection agency will have to show they served you and you can dispute that. If you get it reopened then they will have to show that you even owe this debt and sometimes these collections agencies dont even have the initial card applications etc. What you should not do is agree the accounts are yours or settle, because you want this stuff removed from your credit reports if its on there. If the amount you owe is capped at 5k I am not sure hiring a lawyer is going to be worth it and you may be better off handling it yourself, due to the associated legal costs. I went through something similiar, but it was big bank cards and I was just able to call up and say I didn't apply for the card and they took it off.
;Another thought it you may be able to get a lawyer on a contingency fee if the bank improperly released your money, so you may be able to sue the bank and the collection agency and the law firm representing the collection agency. Although if the judgement came from a court I am not sure why the bank would be liable. You can file complaints with the FTC and also file a complaint with the appropriate state's attorney general's office.
Making more calls. I'll update when I find out more.
@kimmiller112 wrote:I am so sorry you are having to go through this and hope everything works out for you as quick as possible. It sounds like a nightmare but I appreciate you sharing your story with us. Identity theft is something that scares me, especially now that I have worked so hard to get to where I am after having to file for bankruptcy 8 years ago.
As far as going after improper serving of papers, that will depend on what state you are talking about. Some states do not require personally serving papers or having someone sign for them - they can just be left at the door. If you were in a state where they have to be signed for, then you might have a case on that point. You can't go after the bank because they received the proper paperwork and was just doing what they were told to do - you didn't receive the paperwork because it was probably served to the address on file, which was an address you never lived at. You need to get a copy of the paperwork that was served. I'd also see if the bank will give you a copy of what they were given - you may be able to determine if that was a one time garnishment or if it will recur.
Providian was bought out by Washington Mutual and Washington Mutual was bought out by Chase so you can try that route to notify them that this was fraud and see where that goes. Maybe they will work with you on this situation. Did Aspire just shut down or did another bank buy them out, does anyone know? Who is directed to receive the money - is it just Chase or is there another receiver listed? If there is another receiver, you need to try to contact them to let them know this is fraud and to try to backtrack to when it happened and hope that they will also work with you on it.
You need to get all three reports and see what they say - make sure there aren't other accounts on them that aren't yours. Hiring an attorney will probably be expensive, but it is probably the only way to get this completely cleared up. You will also need to take that road trip to file a police report, which adds on another expense, but will be needed to fight this.
I don't know how things like this work and maybe someone can enlighten me, but how can this even come up after 11 years. If the accounts were opened 11 years ago and then closed within a couple months, how can it get to this point 11 years later? Did these companies issue judgements quite a while ago and Is this something that was "renewed" and finally caught up to the OP?
If anything, this is a good reminder for everyone to check their reports. I check mine every month and I know that several people check theirs daily. If you can't afford to check yours periodically through out the year, at least do the free annual reports.
Apparently, that's what happened. I was 100% unaware of these 2 accounts until last night my savings account was debited and I called the bank to find out why? Neither of these accounts are on any of my CRs.
This is terrible OP. I'm so sorry it happened.
I hope you are able to get everything worked out.
Starting Score: 639 (Walmart TU)Thanks all for the kind wishes. I've been at this all damn day now, and feel like I'm getting nothing accomplished. So frustrating. I was just thinking about how damn cruel it is with how these collectors operate. I understand that they really want to get their cash back, but man, what if that 1600 bucks was all I had?? I'm really feeling for some that have hit hard times right now.