Each state is different. Look up your states laws. In some states. Generally, debt collectors don’t issue a court summons unless they’ve already made other attempts to collect on the debt.
They just have to make reasonable attempts. If they can't find you they can request a more broad way of summons, like putting it in the newspaper which would fulfill their obligation. You can definitely do your due diligence to verify your signature wasn't forged.
@bass_playr wrote:OK, this could very well be a case of 'sewer service'. I noticed that Spring Oak Capital has a ton of complaints--many of which are about attempts to try to collect on credit card accounts that the consumer says they know nothing about. One guy asked for, and received info from them about the account--and someone opened a credit card in his name, with his SSN, and at an address he had never heard of before. So he filled out the ID theft info they asked for, and they keep trying to collect from him anyways. The process gets no further than him sending them the filled out info they asked for.
I know you saw this online, but if the online viewing doesnt allow you to see all the info, I would go to the court clerks office at that court. You can review the whole case history, and the document you're looking for is the proof of service. It is entirely possible that if they sent you certified mail that it went to the wrong address--may or may not be an address you used to live at. They use skip tracing to try to locate consumers that have moved, and it is not always accurate. Skip tracers often take the path of least resistance, unfortunately, so they might have thought they had the correct address. There's also a chance that they sent it to a wrong address on purpose.
When you find the proof of service, ask for a copy of it. They may charge you a couple bucks per page, etc. You want a copy of this document because it should show you exactly what address they sent it to, when it was sent, and the signature. Once you find that, you can determine more about what happened. If you find that they sent it to a wrong address, then you have not been properly served under the law. Even though most states have law in their civil procedure that says service is complete upon mailing, if they didnt actually send it to you, you can make a case for never being sued. Under the law in every state, all parties must be noticed and made aware of the suit or else the court does not have jurisdiction.
Your plan to contact the USPS probably won't help. They reuse tracking info, so unless they sent this to you within the last few months, you're not going to find any correct tracking info. I dealt with a debt collector that claimed they sent me certified mail in 2013. They didnt claim it to me until 2018. So when I tried to find it, a completely different shipment was associated with the tracking number.
How long ago was this lawsuit? And what state are you in? Each state has its own laws, and it's possible that they may have broken a law or two in this process.
@bass_playr this ^^^ is good advice. At least you will get solid info one way or another.
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