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Served with Court Papers...but something odd happened need help and advice!!! ASAP

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CGame
New Contributor

Served with Court Papers...but something odd happened need help and advice!!! ASAP

Moderators please move this to the correct place if need be.

 

I have a very strange situation! I was served with papers from a collection law firm called FEIWELL & HANNOY, P.C. (mailed to me)

 

I'm not sure exactly what this is, but I will explain.

 

This is on behalf of WELLS FARGO (Plaintiff) vs. a list of people; a business, an apartment complex, my name, another business, and an "unknown tenant".

 

We are listed as "defendants'. 

 

It says there is a "MOTION TO CONTINUE (DATE) SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE". From there it goes on to explain that "the plaintiff has offered (one of the defendent's name) a trial period plan calling for three (3) monthly payments in the sum of (dollar amount)"

 

What in the world is this?? I have never seen this before. It has my name in a list of others being sued by Wells Fargo, but it doesn't say for what. 

 

All of this takes place in the State of Indiana.

 

I am in the State of Texas. 

 

I no longer reside in Indiana. To make this even more strange (at least to me) I had house that was financed with Wells Fargo that foreclosed around 2008 in that state (IN). It showed up on my credit for about 2 more years, then no sign of it. Then I recently financed a car with them (Mar 2016)

 

From reading the board, I guess I should call the lawyer. There is no date or timeframe to call. I got the letter today 5/10, and the "Order to Continue" is 5/12.

 

My question is eventhough I had a foreclosure in 2008, and it doesnt show on my credit anymore, can they come back for something? I checked my credit report today, no suspicious activity or even a new judgement listed. I recently bought a car through Wells back in March, so if I was in that bad of a standing, I don't think they would have approved a car loan? ANY advice would be helpful because I am super puzzled about this one. Any questions just ask and I will try and provide the answer.  

 

 

Message 1 of 22
21 REPLIES 21
RonM21
Valued Contributor

Re: Served with Court Papers...but something odd happened need help and advice!!! ASAP

Sorry to hear. I'd definitely get ahold of a lawyer. You at least neeed to find out what's going on. If it showed on your report then disappeared, that still doesn't take care of the baalnce owed, I assume. There could be a number of things in play here. Talking to a lawyer may be the best route.


Total CL: $321.7kUTL: 2%AAoA: 7.0yrsBaddies: 0Other: Lease, Loan, *No Mortgage, All Inq's from Jun '20 Car Shopping

BoA-55k | NFCU-45k | AMEX-42k | DISC-40.6k | PENFED-38.4k | LOWES-35k | ALLIANT-25k | CITI-15.7k | BARCLAYS-15k | CHASE-10k

Message 2 of 22
StartingOver10
Moderator Emerita

Re: Served with Court Papers...but something odd happened need help and advice!!! ASAP

^^^Agree with RM21, speak to an attorney to find out exactly what this is about and what you can do about it. By the way, it is possible to have a judgment in the public records and not have it show up on your credit report so you might want to check the public records of both the state where this is from and your new state (it case it was domesticated there). 

 

I moved your post because I think it will get more responses here.

Message 3 of 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Served with Court Papers...but something odd happened need help and advice!!! ASAP

Definitely contact an attorney.
For one thing, you have not been properly served according to Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, since you are an individual - that requires personal service, mail is not sufficient.

If you have a sort of common name, it might not even be you - did you ever live in the listed apartment complex or have any involvement with the listed defendant businesses in Indiana? They may have gotten your address from lexis or skiptrace, assuming you are the correct "John Smith."

Even if you are the right person, and you are named in an actual suit (which doesn't seem likely because both the style of the case and the contents of the pleading sound strange) they have to effect proper service before you can be held accountable. To me it almost sounds like a very strange attempt to scare you into making those payments, on debt that may not even be yours.

Is there a cause number at the top of the page? Every legal pleading in a state court has a cause number at the to of the page. Federal district cases have it to the right and say "U.S. District Court" at the top. It will also tell you what county it is in. Call the appropriate county clerk and give them the cause number, they'll tell you if it's real or not.

I suspect you might even have a claim of your own under FDCPA based on this.
Message 4 of 22
CGame
New Contributor

Re: Served with Court Papers...but something odd happened need help and advice!!! ASAP

Thank you all for your responses. I guess I have to find an attorney to look into this. Sheesh.

 

@hmw_75, no I don't have a common name, and I have no affliation with the names, apartment complex or businesses in which I am listed in as a defendant. Thats the part that was so confusing. I didn't understand how I got dragged into this. Especially since it doesnt even state what this is all about in those papers. No reason, no amount of money owed, nothing. At first recepit of this letter, I thought "scam for money" personally. Especially since I didn't get served the proper way. Yes, there is a document number in the top right for the Indiana District Civil Court. I haven't looked online yet to see what it says on their site. 

 

So, should I call the clerk first, the collection attorneys who sent the letter first, or try to hire a lawyer first? I'm kind of twisted on which should attack first since this is so odd to me. 

 

Once again, thanks everybody, and if you have anymore suggestions that can help me, please feel free to drop them here, because I need all the help I can get on this madness!

Message 5 of 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Served with Court Papers...but something odd happened need help and advice!!! ASAP

A "document number" is meaningless - I suspect there is no real court case.

 

Contact the district clerk in the appropriate county in Indiana and ask them to look up the number.  They'll tell you if it's a real docket (not docUMENT) number, commonly also called a cause number or a case number, depending on the court's label.

 

If by some slim chance it actually is a real lawsuit, you can get copies from the same clerk, although they may charge you $1 a page or something depending on local rules.  It is not the responsibility or duty of the district clerk to aid any of the parties in a real suit, so she won't call the plaintiff's attorney and tell him she talked to you or anything like that.   If they never served you, it's their problem and she isn't going to help them.   

 

If indeed it is just a complex ruse trying to get you to pay the money, it must have the "mini miranda" stuff on it about "this is an attempt to collect a debt, any information gained will be used for that purpose" etc, etc.  If not, it's in violation of the FDCPA.

Message 6 of 22
CGame
New Contributor

Re: Served with Court Papers...but something odd happened need help and advice!!! ASAP

Thanks again...They sent 2 sets of forms and on the 2nd set, very bottom, last page it states "this is a debt collector in an attempt to collect a debt" I did notice that. I figured from there it was some kind of debt collection stuff, but I don't know what for is the issue. At the type right of the page, there is a "cause number"

Message 7 of 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Served with Court Papers...but something odd happened need help and advice!!! ASAP


@CGame wrote:

Thanks again...They sent 2 sets of forms and on the 2nd set, very bottom, last page it states "this is a debt collector in an attempt to collect a debt" I did notice that. I figured from there it was some kind of debt collection stuff, but I don't know what for is the issue. At the type right of the page, there is a "cause number"


Wait 5 days - then inform them they are in violation of FDCPA by not sending you a legal dunning notice....

Message 8 of 22
CGame
New Contributor

Re: Served with Court Papers...but something odd happened need help and advice!!! ASAP

I will do...I also searched that case number online. It comes up as "Mortage Foreclosure" on a website that is "dot.org". I don't  know if its a legit site but it does come up with my name along with those others I mentioned. Then, I went to the official "dot.gov" website for the state and searched, but it returned no results no matter how I searched.

 

Now, I'm confused. If this is legit, how can they come after me after all these years? It looks like its a "group sue" on Wells Fargos behalf bc when I type in that cause number, all of us come up as "Mortage Foreclosure". Can they come after me after almost 10 years? 

Message 9 of 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Served with Court Papers...but something odd happened need help and advice!!! ASAP

SOL in Indiana is 10 years for signed contracts. It is also a "recourse state" regarding mortgage deficiencies.

Message 10 of 22
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