Sued by HSBC for $15,000 on a debt not owed!!!

[Anonymous]

Nut sure where you lie but down South, the only thing the court needs to do is to put it in first class mail.  There is a little signature at the bottom where it is signed and the date it was dropped in the mail.  You would think it would take more than that being something so important.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps best to go to court and get this resolved. If it's their mistake maybe you can get compensation. If it's a case of identity theft you need to know. I would try to contact HSBC and get some facts first-when the account was opened, if by phone, mail or web, what kind of items purchased etc. Make very sure that this is not a valid debt that they took over from some other credit card or some thing you co-signed for. If it is better negotiate payments before case comes to court and they get a judgment.

[Anonymous]

Hi Dave,

Who is actually "suing" your friend - HSBC or a collection agency?  My guess is if the DOLD is 2002, it's actually a collection agency suing her because HSBC has already "charged off" the debt and sold the bad debt portfolio to a collection agency.

A trick that some (unscrupulous) CAs use to get a person to pay up is to send a fake summons or a notice with a fake docket number.  

Here is what you need to do:

1) Go to the courthouse or call the courthouse where the lawsuit was allegedly filed.  You should see that on the summons, along with a docket number.   Find out if this is legitimate.

     a) If this is a valid suit, your friend needs to see a consumer attorney ASAP to represent her and create a plan of attack for her defense. 

Regardless of whether the lawsuit is fake or real, your friend needs to do the following ASAP:

1) Send a DV (CMRRR) to the group that's suing her (HSBC or a collection agency).  See HappyDays's post for an example letter.

2) Send a dispute to the CRAs who are reporting the debt as "not mine".

3) Contact HSBC to get the full information about this debt.   If HSBC still has the account on record, they will tell your friend about the account, such as: the amount owed, the date of last payment, the amount of the last payment, and which company purchased the debt.   Sometimes, the original creditor has absolutely no record of the account, which will be lucky for your friend.  Get all the information from HSBC in writing, especially if they can't find the account information!

4) If your friend suspects that her identity was stolen, she will need to do the following:

       a) File a police report.

       b) If her state has security freeze laws, file a security freeze on her credit reports.  Here is a link of the state laws for filing a security freeze: http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/learn_more/003484indiv.html. 

HTH

[Anonymous]

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montana wrote:

Unless she signed for that court summons letter......she can continue to ignore this, because there is no proof she ever got the letter. If she did signed it....all too late and better explain it all to the judge. The judge most likely will be on consumer's side. Not a big deal, really. She'll be in and out. Tell her not to be afraid.

Good LUCK!

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NEVER ignore a summons.  It's a one way ticket to a default judgment against you and the next thing you know, they're garnishing your wages.  Follow Jenn's advice above -- get the details from the courthouse.  CAs have been known to tell you the wrong date (later than the actual court date) to try to get you to miss it and default.

Service of process requirements vary by state (and sometimes county).  This is one reason you need a lawyer.  Some courts won't tell you because they refuse to provide "legal advice."

[Anonymous]

While I did not mean to ignore the official summons. I merely state that sometimes they are not real and sometimes they are delivered improperly. There must be recipient signature to tell the court that it has been delivered. This is how it is in California at least.

[Anonymous]

Send that DV  letter  if court dat is changed it will mean that the DV  should have been answered. They have 30 days to answer.

If looking for an attorney  www.naca.net

Keep us informed

[Anonymous]

Update: we have actually confirmed that the account is a valid one with Direct Merchants Bank. I am not sure yet about the validity of the case filing but the supposed lawsuit is by a CA rather than HSBC—that was my error in posting. For the record we live in NY and a search told us that if there are 3 failed attempts to serve in person then the papers can be hung on the door and subsequently mailed. Nothing was placed on the door but my guess is they can probably claim it was. What I'd like to know is if she doesn't really have any assets is it possible to file chapter 7 BK right now and would DV (already sent) buy some time to figure out what to do next without actually coming in to court?

[Anonymous]

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ChaoticKinesis wrote:
For the record we live in NY and a search told us that if there are 3 failed attempts to serve in person then the papers can be hung on the door and subsequently mailed.

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Otherwise known as "nail and mail."

[Anonymous]

tell her to go to the court and talk to the judge, this is not a big deal. She can claim financial hardship and the judge might dismiss the case alltogether. There is nothing to worry about here.

[Anonymous]

Hi ChaoticKinesis,

You may get lucky with filing the DV where the CA will dismiss the lawsuit, but I wouldn't wait around to find out the outcome. 

Before taking any action, I would try to confirm whether the lawsuit is real or not.  If the lawsuit is real, I would get a consumer attorney ASAP.  The reason why is the attorney can give you the best advice on what to do.   Your friend may be better off filing for bankruptcy, or your friend may have a good defense against the creditor.