My husband had a debt with Target, which was turned over to the law offices of Cohen & Slamowitz. Before hand it was at a collection agency, which we made sporadic payments with them.

We received a letter from Cohen & Slamowitz on June 30th; my husband spoke with them July 7th. He explained how I’ve been out of work and the loss of income was making it difficult to make payments. He set up a one time payment to be automatically debited from our account dated 7/25. My husband then said he would call after 30-45 days after the payment to set up another payment and possibly making a payment plan because I was expected to go back to work shortly. They seemed fine with it. We never received any other letter or phone call from them.

Before this we had made sporadic payments with them.

I just tried using my ATM card and it was declined, when my husband called the bank to find out why he was told that Cohen & Slamowitz had a levy on the account, which would put my account at a big negative, (also will cause my rent check to bounce and I now have no money to live off of until my hubby’s next payday next Friday).

Hubby called Cohen & Slamowitz and was told they made multiple attempts to contact us (although I have not got anything from them since that last payment in July) and have a levy on the account because of a judgment they have against us in court.

I’m confused as to what is going on here. Can anyone help? And since I made a payment in July can they seize my bank account like that?

And an important question…..after how long on inactivity with them can they do this? Since I made a payment 7/25, it’s not like it’s completely unactive. And we did say we would contact them 30-45 days after the last payment, which I had every intention on doing so this Friday….I even have a note here next to my PC to do so.

Please help, desperate! My rent check will now bounce, and I have no other money.

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Get some legal advice. I guess, if you involve a lawyer in this matter, things will be sorted out in the right way.

You must verify with the company for the address used to contact you. It sounds suspicious why they are saying this now since you were already in contact with them earlier and I believe you didn't change your address recently. There is something fishy going on here.

Have you talked with your bank regarding this matter? Any activity done by the company in the past will be in their system and it can be tracked immediately.

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I just got off the phone with them. They said it was noted on our file that I would be calling around end of August to the beginning of September to make another payment, and make payment arrangements. But since it was stated verbally that they did not have to abide by it. They wanted to take the full $1500.00 (leaving my account at $0.32) out of my bank account but said they would be “nice” and only take $1000.00 as a down payment if I would be willing to make payment arrangements in writing today via fax. This still wouldn’t help me because my rent check was still going to bounce. I asked them if we could split the $1000 deposit into two payments, $650.00 for today and $350.00 via a predated check for next Friday, 9/15. They said they would. The even went a step further to say that they would take only the $650 as a down payment and forget the $350.00 if I would be willing to make a payment plan right now of $300.00 a month. I told then that was too steep, I couldn’t afford $300.00 a month. I could possible afford only half of that, $150.00 a month. She asked that I fax a copy of my husband’s paycheck over to her first thing in the morning so she can approve a smaller monthly payment. She had stated to me my hubby’s company name and address, and even called my hubby at work today so it’s not like she wants to use it t find out his work for garnishment.

Should we fax then the pay stub, or are they trying to pull another fast one on us?

Also….I did verify my address with them, they had both my old and new address (moved this past March). They said perhaps it got “accidentally” mailed to my old address, but that they did send a notice dated 6/22 to appear in court. That’s dated before my last phone conversation with them, yet they never mentioned it to us when we spoke with them.

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You need to not fax the pay stub to them. If they really have a judgment against you you would have been notified by the clerk of court in your county. See if you can check the court records and you may want to get a lawyer.

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I just received a call back from the city clerk's office (a friend of a friend works there and was able to get me info) and yes a summons was filed on 6/22 which gave my 30 days to appear in court, which I did not. She didn't look for any more info because I only asked if there WAS a summons filed, and she was snooping through my file when she wasn't supposed to be.

And it did have my correct address, however I was staying at my sister's house 6/21-7/6 so perhaps it came when we were away and my neighbor didn't give me all my mail? But when we did return, I did get the other normal letter from them and I contacted them on it. I have the letter here, it says nothing about appearing in court.

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You should immediately take some legal advice now because you didn't show up in the court at the previous date. The law office will get a chance to win a default judgment against you.

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I'm not too sure, but doesn't a summons of this magnitude have to be served personally? As well as a copy sent to the mailing address?
There's a lot here that doesn't make sense. You really need to see a lawyer quickly!

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Also, if a summons came through the mail, wouldn't it have to be sent registered, signature required? I mean, they have to give you every possible chance to show up and defend yourself.
And it sounds like that moved quite quickly through the courts. In my county, things are backed up for months, even in small claims.
And they can't take all of your money, just a percentage, right?

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In Despair, can you please let me kmow what state you live in

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Also, a bank will only enforce or place a levy or garnishment on an account(s) with a court order to do so. It gets prosessed through that banks legal department. You could contact your branch manager to find out exactly when they received that court order. I would suggest having that info when you get any legal advice.

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Swedish, I am being bothered by a lawyer who bought an old debt. They have a reputation for seizing bank accounts. Would I need to be notified of any court orders. They seem to be very sleazy and just somehow levy peoples accounts. How do they even get your banking info. I am sick because of this

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This is definitely freaking me out. I have several old debts that I haven't resolved yet. I am terrified they are goint to levy my account. I haven't received any sort of notification but I keep a very close eye on the mail.

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Please note:

1- Cohen and Slamowitz ALREADY had this persons banking info due the automatic debit authorized on 7/25

2-If it was a bank levy, how can they then split the levy amount after they had already taken the money?

Nothing against you at all In_Despair, but just curious...

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Thanks for jumping in my good friends. I am really at a loss on this one

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I second what vollyballmom says. They already knew where they banked due to previous automatic debits. Also, when a bank is sent a levy or garnishment request, it's for a specific dollar amount. If there is not enough in the account at the time of request to fulfill the entire amount, they take everything but a penny. You would receive a levy or garnishment request in the mail at the same time the bank recieves one. As a notification that it is happening. And, you would have had to been notified by the courts that you are summoned, then they get a judgement against you. I think, in the original post, they had two addresses on file, and the person was not at home for some time when the original summons was served. That seems strange to me, but that's a different topic. Anyway, there are definitely hoops they have to go through to get to the point where the bank account is being levied or garnished. And vollyball mom is also right that it's strange they agreed to split up the garnishment after the bank has already received the levy request. Once the bank gets that request, they HAVE to comply...legally. It's a court order! Weird.....curiouser and curiouser. It's a conundrum wrapped up in an enigma!

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I'm all right, Jack. Keep your hands off of my stack! - Pink Floyd

swedish, I have been googling this company, and it seems that they make a practice out of leving. I called their phone number and on the menu there is a button to press if you are calling about seized accounts

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