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Judgements??? Help, please!!!!

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heather123
Valued Member

Judgements??? Help, please!!!!

I just got a call from a Frontline Collection Agency who was calling to settle on a judgement awarded against me...??? I didn't know there was a judgement; it's not on my credit report... It is for a Gap credit card I defaulted on in 2006 for $871. Frontline told me the judgement was filed in Jan. 2009 and awarded in April 2009 by my county courthouse. The balance now is over $2200 because of a $750 attorney fee and 10% interest. The judgement summary on the website says nothing about the interest, only the costs, fees, and principal. Why did they wait 3 years post-judgement to decide they want to collect on it? So they could build up enough interest to make it work their while [snark]???

 

I searched for civil cases including my name on the courthouse website and that came up as adjucated. There were others... one from an old landlord for $1036.40, and another for $969 from Capital One. I knew nothing of these; never saw a summons and never received any letter or notice of these being awarded... Frontline called my parents today looking for me, and that's the only reason I found out about this in the first place. I have no money to pay these. What do I do? Why aren't they on my credit report so I would have known about them!? (Not complaining about their omission from CR; I'm just completely floored about these.)

 

Here's one as an example:

 

Judgments

Date(F)or / (A)gainstAmountFrequencyTypeStatus
12/15/2008 F: CAPITAL ONE BANK $122.40  Costs  
 A: Mod Cut Lastname    
12/15/2008 F: CAPITAL ONE BANK $847.67  Principal  
 A: Mod Cut Lastname  

 

Starting FICO (Equifax): 466 - 10/2009
03/2012: EQ 515
06/2012: EQ 515/TU 572
07/2012: EQ 505
08/2012: EQ 567
Short-term goal: 625 by end of 2012/Long term goal: 700+
Message 1 of 15
14 REPLIES 14
Chrisla2077
Established Contributor

Re: Judgements??? Help, please!!!!

If I'm not mistaken, judgements can not be taken out on you if you were not served. You need to contact your local court jurisdiction and find out how to file a "motion to vacate judgement" and what evidence you need to bring with you. Otherwise, you may need to seek the assistance of an attorney. Hope this works out for you.

Message 2 of 15
heather123
Valued Member

Re: Judgements??? Help, please!!!!

Thank you. I called the court and I'm going to go there tomorrow to look at/make copies of the documents. I want to see where and when they supposedly served me. If their motion was filed with the court in January 2009 and the hearing was in April 2009, the summons must have been delivered to an old address; I moved to a new residence in Feb. 2009. I just hope this hasn't passed any sort of appeal deadline.

 

Besides the lack of notification, I have even more issues with it... Gap (GEMB) was the original creditor, but the one who filed for judgement was the LVNV through attorney Paul Guglielmo & Associates (another debt collector). They tacked $750 in attorney fees and $130 in court filing fees onto my $871 credit card balance, making it over $1700. In addition, they've been charging some level of interest so it's over $2200 now. I recognize that I owe money to Gap/GEMB and I'd be happy to pay $871 and a reasonable amount of interest, but this amount that LVNV is asking for is ridiculous. My credit report shows that Gap/GEMB charged off the balance. I would like to find out what, if anything, LVNV paid to take over that debt.

 

When I printed my credit report for the first time in Oct. 2009, that was the first time I saw/heard of LVNV. I sent a DV letter CMRRR to LVNV's address as given on my credit report, but it was returned to sender. I disputed with the CRAs because I wanted documentation of how LVNV's balances came to be and how my original creditor balance was included in their inflated numbers. The CRAs responded as "verified" with no further explanation. I drafted a letter to LVNV in Oct. 2010 asking for a full accounting of the balances, but I didn't have the guts to send it, especially considering they're scheduled to drop of my CR in August 2012. (Little did I know that they already won a judgement nearly 2 years prior).

 

On Dec. 15, 2011, anticipating a fresh start to the new year, I sent out a bunch of PFD letters to old creditors to try and really clean things up for 2012. I have two LVNV accounts on my CR, but I let those sleeping dogs lie. I sent one of those PFDs to the Gap, explaining that a junk debt buyer had purchased the account and I wanted to settle with Gap/GEMB directly instead. I made them an offer of $500 on the charged off $871 balance from 2006. I haven't heard back...

 

So now this. I'm curious to see what's contained in that court file. I wonder if they'll have a copy of my signed agreement with the Gap from 2001. Or any information that proves their right to collect on the debt. Should be interesting...

Starting FICO (Equifax): 466 - 10/2009
03/2012: EQ 515
06/2012: EQ 515/TU 572
07/2012: EQ 505
08/2012: EQ 567
Short-term goal: 625 by end of 2012/Long term goal: 700+
Message 3 of 15
GregB
Valued Contributor

Re: Judgements??? Help, please!!!!


@heather123 wrote:

Thank you. I called the court and I'm going to go there tomorrow to look at/make copies of the documents. I want to see where and when they supposedly served me. If their motion was filed with the court in January 2009 and the hearing was in April 2009, the summons must have been delivered to an old address; I moved to a new residence in Feb. 2009. I just hope this hasn't passed any sort of appeal deadline.

 

Besides the lack of notification, I have even more issues with it... Gap (GEMB) was the original creditor, but the one who filed for judgement was the LVNV through attorney Paul Guglielmo & Associates (another debt collector). They tacked $750 in attorney fees and $130 in court filing fees onto my $871 credit card balance, making it over $1700. In addition, they've been charging some level of interest so it's over $2200 now. I recognize that I owe money to Gap/GEMB and I'd be happy to pay $871 and a reasonable amount of interest, but this amount that LVNV is asking for is ridiculous. My credit report shows that Gap/GEMB charged off the balance. I would like to find out what, if anything, LVNV paid to take over that debt.

 

When I printed my credit report for the first time in Oct. 2009, that was the first time I saw/heard of LVNV. I sent a DV letter CMRRR to LVNV's address as given on my credit report, but it was returned to sender. I disputed with the CRAs because I wanted documentation of how LVNV's balances came to be and how my original creditor balance was included in their inflated numbers. The CRAs responded as "verified" with no further explanation. I drafted a letter to LVNV in Oct. 2010 asking for a full accounting of the balances, but I didn't have the guts to send it, especially considering they're scheduled to drop of my CR in August 2012. (Little did I know that they already won a judgement nearly 2 years prior).

 

On Dec. 15, 2011, anticipating a fresh start to the new year, I sent out a bunch of PFD letters to old creditors to try and really clean things up for 2012. I have two LVNV accounts on my CR, but I let those sleeping dogs lie. I sent one of those PFDs to the Gap, explaining that a junk debt buyer had purchased the account and I wanted to settle with Gap/GEMB directly instead. I made them an offer of $500 on the charged off $871 balance from 2006. I haven't heard back...

 

So now this. I'm curious to see what's contained in that court file. I wonder if they'll have a copy of my signed agreement with the Gap from 2001. Or any information that proves their right to collect on the debt. Should be interesting...


Proof of service would have been required in court. You will need to find out what is required for service by that court. Some require very little, such as mail and a posted letter on the door of your address at the time. If you moved and didn't update GEMB, you could be out of luck. You need to look at the proof of service and then determine if it meets the standards of the court. In order to get it vacated, it would help for it to be obvious fraud such as your signature on the service when you can prove you didn't live there at the time. Even then, it is usually difficult unless the process server has a history of complaints for fraudulent service. LVNV does have many complaints about companies that they use in collections which might help.

 

Interest accumulating on a judgement is the rule everywhere as far as I know. The interest rate is set by the court and you pay that rate until you pay the debt. The $750 in fees seems unusual. I'm curious about that.

 

You can negotiate with them about the amount but you can't negotiate with GEMB because they sold the debt. You have no right to know what they paid for the debt.

 

 

Message 4 of 15
heather123
Valued Member

Re: Judgements??? Help, please!!!!

Thanks, Greg.

 

My GEMB account was closed in 2006. Would I still needed to give them every change of address? I've moved 4 times since 2006....

 

The infamous Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is responsible for serving justice court summonses in my area. Knowing their track record, I'm sure everything was done by the book (wink.)

 

I'm betting that the $750 in attorney's fees is probably the maximum that's allowed in the court. Do they have to validate their attorney fees?

 

 

Starting FICO (Equifax): 466 - 10/2009
03/2012: EQ 515
06/2012: EQ 515/TU 572
07/2012: EQ 505
08/2012: EQ 567
Short-term goal: 625 by end of 2012/Long term goal: 700+
Message 5 of 15
GregB
Valued Contributor

Re: Judgements??? Help, please!!!!


@heather123 wrote:

Thanks, Greg.

 

My GEMB account was closed in 2006. Would I still needed to give them every change of address? I've moved 4 times since 2006....

 

The infamous Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is responsible for serving justice court summonses in my area. Knowing their track record, I'm sure everything was done by the book (wink.)

 

I'm betting that the $750 in attorney's fees is probably the maximum that's allowed in the court. Do they have to validate their attorney fees?

 

 


First step is to see how they served you. Next step is to see if there is something wrong with that method according to the rules of that court. If it was served by mail or "nail & mail" then an outdated address becomes an issue. I would think most courts would hold you responsible to update your contact information on any open accounts. If the account was closed but you still owe them money, then it isn't really "closed". I do understand that updating them when you couldn't pay them in the first place isn't easy.

 

Trying to prove that a government agency served process improperly is likely to be really difficult.  

 

I'm going to guess by the attorney's fees that your Maricopa county isn't in CA, right?

 

The really sad truth is that attorney fees are generally considered validated by the fact that they are billed. Our legal system, like all government controlled entities, seems designed to waste money. Billed fees that only get collected at the end of a court case will be higher, much higher.

 

Message 6 of 15
heather123
Valued Member

Re: Judgements??? Help, please!!!!

I'm in Maricopa County in Arizona. They are supposed to mail it, and apparently hand deliver:

 

(d) Service of Summons Upon Individuals. Service upon an individual from whom a waiver has not been obtained and filed, other than those specified in paragraphs (e), (f) and (g) of this Rule 4.1, shall be effected by delivering a copy of the summons and of the pleading to that individual personally or by leaving copies thereof at that individual's dwelling house or usual place of abode with some person of suitable age and discretion then residing therein or by delivering a copy of the summons and of the pleading to an agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process.

 

If they don't know my current address they're supposed to post the summons in the newspaper for a month:

 

(n) Service by Publication; Return. Where the person to be served is one whose residence is unknown to the party seeking service but whose last known residence address was within the state, or has avoided service of process, and service by publication is the best means practicable under the circumstances for providing notice of the institution of the action, then service may be made by publication in accordance with the requirements of this subpart. Such service shall be made by publication of the summons, and of a statement as to the manner in which a copy of the pleading being served may be obtained, at least once a week for four successive weeks (1) in a newspaper published in the county where the action is pending, and (2) in a newspaper published in the county of the last known residence of the person to be served if different from the county where the action is pending. If no newspaper is published in any such county, then the required publications shall be made in a newspaper published in an adjoining county. The service shall be complete thirty days after the first publication. When the residence of the person to be served is known, the party or officer making service shall also, on or before the date of the first publication, mail the summons and a copy of the pleading being served, postage prepaid, to that person at that person's place of residence. Service by publication and the return thereof may be made by the party procuring service or that party's attorney in the same manner as though made by an officer. The party or officer making service shall file an affidavit showing the manner and dates of the publication and mailing, and the circumstances warranting the utilization of the procedure authorized by this subpart, which shall be prima facie evidence of compliance herewith. A printed copy of the publication shall accompany the affidavit. If the residence of the party being served is unknown, and for that reason no mailing was made, the affidavit shall so state.

Starting FICO (Equifax): 466 - 10/2009
03/2012: EQ 515
06/2012: EQ 515/TU 572
07/2012: EQ 505
08/2012: EQ 567
Short-term goal: 625 by end of 2012/Long term goal: 700+
Message 7 of 15
Booner72
Senior Contributor

Re: Judgements??? Help, please!!!!

Is it showing up on the online court system as a real and true judgment?  Don't be suprised if you go to the courthouse today *(GOOD MOVE) that there might not even be a legit judgment.  They might be lying.

STARTING: 11/24/10 EQ-584 EXP-648 TU04-595
CLOSED FIRST HOME 8/19/11 EQ-630 EXP-691 TU04-653
CURRENT: EQ-701 EXP-??? TU08-720
Message 8 of 15
heather123
Valued Member

Re: Judgements??? Help, please!!!!

It's in the court system. I was so cautious when I talked to the guy from Frontline because I thought he was pulling a scam. It's the real deal.

Starting FICO (Equifax): 466 - 10/2009
03/2012: EQ 515
06/2012: EQ 515/TU 572
07/2012: EQ 505
08/2012: EQ 567
Short-term goal: 625 by end of 2012/Long term goal: 700+
Message 9 of 15
GregB
Valued Contributor

Re: Judgements??? Help, please!!!!

The individual service sounds reasonable. Most people over 18 would not accept documents for a prior resident.

 

The alternative service by  publication would probably get most people "served" without their knowledge. It is pretty sad that is legal service in my opinion.

Message 10 of 15
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