topic Re: Served at an old address... in Rebuilding Your Credit

Served at an old address...

ThetoriParadox — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 19:45:27 GMT

My sister just called me and said I got served a judgment at her address (my former addres, in a different state).

From Velocity LLC and I have 20 days to respond form 11/30 even though papers were served on 12/5. She sent me photos of the whole packet.

I am kind of freaking out. Not sure what my next step is.

If anyone could weigh in I would be super thankful.

Re: Served at an old address...

RobertEG — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 20:19:43 GMT

If you have been served notice of filing of a civil complaint seeking a judgment on debt, the most prudent advice is that you consult with an attorney regarding next steps.

You may have issues with how service was made, such as service at an address where you no longer reside. State rules of civil procedure provide for how acceptable service is done, and you need the advice of an attorney in your jurisdiction to assess the propriety.

If the notice sets a period for response to the court, you can also contact the office of the clerk of the court for advise on what is required, including a possible extension while you seek legal counsel.

I would not advise ignoring the service and its requirements based on your own personal determination of some defect in the method of service. That could easily lead to grant of a default judgment by the court for lack of response.

Re: Served at an old address...

ThetoriParadox — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 20:24:06 GMT

Thanks so much @RobertEG You're always super helpful. I am looking at attorneys now. I am not sure if there is a certain specialty I should be trying to find one in though.

Re: Served at an old address...

vntrsc — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 01:29:28 GMT

Look for a consumer attorney.

Re: Served at an old address...

bass_playr — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 19:34:37 GMT

FDCPA does allow them to sue you in the jurisdiction where the account was originated, but since you do not live there anymore, I would file a motion to dismiss due to improper venue. You live out of state. This is sometimes just an oversight on their part, sometimes it's due to them not having your current address, but often it is actually done intentionally so they can secure a default judgment against you. In other words, even if they knew you no longer lived there, they can and often do serve you there and claim that to be the proper court when they know it is not. They know that when they get a default judgment, most people do not know enough to fight for their rights under the law.

First, have you ever updated your address on the account in question to reflect that you do not live at that address? Is this debt collector or the OC reporting on your credit report? And does your credit report reflect your change of address? This is one way to determine if they should have known better than to serve you at an invalid address. If your current address was given to them, or to the OC, or if it clearly shows up on your credit and they are on your credit, then you can argue that they knew better but tried this anyway to keep you from being made aware.

A motion to dismiss due to improper venue means they sued you in a court that has no jurisdiction over you geographically. Since you live in a different state, you can argue that it would be very inconvenient for them to make you travel to that court to fight out this case. Most courts in my experience are easy about granting this motion to dismiss since you don't live in that state.

There are other things possibly in play here. And these are things that, even if you decide to go with an attorney, you should know ahead of time so that when you meet with attorneys you can give them the most accurate picture of the case. There are a lot of moving parts to something like this. Some things you will want to try to figure out as best you can up front:

1--is it your account? Do you actually owe this debt?

2--is the balance they are suing for accurate? Example, if you owed $4000 and you paid $2000, you would know it was wrong if they were still suing for the full $4000.

3--how long ago did the account first become past due? Every state has what's known as a statute of limitations, and it starts when the debt first became delinquent. If your state's SOL is 4 years and this delinquency that they're suing on first began 6 years ago, you will want to know that ASAP because you need to assert this to the court in order to be protected.

4--who is the original creditor? Many of the agreements for OC's that Velocity gets involved with have arbitration clauses in them, and I know several people who have won over Velocity in the past by electing arbitration instead of the courts. If we know who the OC is in your case we can help you to search out whether or not there is an arbitration clause in the agreement.

Re: Served at an old address...

RobertEG — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 20:05:58 GMT

The FDCPA section defining proper venue for civil actions by debt collectors:

" FDCPA 811. Legal actions by debt collectors

(a) Venue
Any debt collector who brings any legal action on a debt against any consumer shall --

(1) in the case of an action to enforce an interest in real property securing the consumer's obligation, bring such action only in a judicial district or similar legal entity in which such real property is located; or

(2) in the case of an action not described in paragraph (1), bring such action only in the judicial district or similar legal entity --

(A) in which such consumer signed the contract sued upon; or

(B) in which such consumer resides at the commencement of the action. "

Re: Served at an old address...

bass_playr — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 13:30:38 GMT

RobertEG is correct on that. One more thought, did you live at that address when the debt in question was originated? If not, did you live in that same county at least? It is possible that you did not, in which case, them suing you in that court is improper no matter what.