I had an old debt with Palisades and I paid them. I recieved a PIF letter and they said they would file with the court to dismiss the case. They did not file anything with the court and as a result, a judgement was entered for the full amount of the debt, even though I paid them. I've called them and they said they would take care of it and fix it with the court. It's been months now and they still have done nothing.

Can someone tell me the reason for why they refuse to do as they say they will? How on earth do I fix this. The court clerk says that Palisades has to file the satisfaction of judgement. What can you do if they refuse?

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Hire a lawyer and sue them. You can also dispute it with the CBR.

Why would you not show up for the court date if you had already paid the debt. You would've had to show the judge proof that you did.. but at least this way, you wouldn't have a judgement against you.

Sorry I just wouldn't have trusted a collection agency to do anything. I would have showed up in court with all my paperwork, showed the judge I had already paid them in full, and let them deal with it.

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Unfortunatley, I was not savey with CA's back then. Palisades lawyer was vey nice, led me to believe without a doubt that they would be dismissing the case and told me that I did not need to show up for the court date.

I do have money to hire a lawyer but there's only one consumer debt lawyer (an hour and a half away) and his assistant told me he's not taking cases right now. I will call him again and see if he will let me explain my case.

If I can't get a lawyer to help me, does anyone have suggestions for what I may be able to do about this myself? If Palisades won't file the satisfaction of judgement with the court, seems I should be allowed to do something about it.

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Honestly, I would write a letter to the court at this point, and it would basically look something like this...

I would send something like that to the court, certified mail. I would then file a lawsuit of my own against them. You would have to do those two things separately like that, because the law holds that any violations they have committed do not reflect anything about your obligation to pay a debt. I would file a lawsuit based on the following:

1--FDCPA violation because they used a deceptive practice--lying to the court and proceeding with judgment when the law would not have allowed them to do so if they told the truth in court.

2--FCRA violation--if they have not reported this as paid on your credit reports, meaning if they are still reporting that you owe the debt on your credit reports, then they are violating the FCRA.

FCRA violations are the big ones, they allow up to $1000 per violation. FDCPA violations allow you to sue for up to $1000 total no matter how many times they broke that law. I would sue them for both in the same complaint. At this point, I would personally not even use an attorney, but I have studied the law and am quite comfortable with it......you may not be. But in either case, it is simply a matter of handing the judge the documents showing the following timeline:

1--they sued you.
2--you paid the debt in full.
3--they sent a PIF letter to you and promised to dismiss the case.
4--they lied to the court and didnt disclose that you paid the debt, thereby securing a fraudulent judgment against you.
5--over several months, you have repeatedly demanded that they fix their mistake, and they have so far refused to do so.

All you would need for documentation are the following:

1--copy of the court judgment
2--PIF letter
3--receipt for the payment you sent them

All you need to say is "look at the dates....clearly I paid before date of judgment. Clearly, plaintiff in that case admitted that I paid before the date of judgment. Also clearly, they chose to lie to the court and withhold this information. This violates the following sections of the FDCPA--

1--806, because their action has caused harassment and undue oppression in that my credit score has been fraudulently lowered due to their dishonesty.
2--807, false representations, because they have falsely represented this debt as still outstanding when it was admittedly paid off.
3--808, unfair practices, because after being paid in full the plaintiff continued to seek judgment. This can be considered a bona fide attempt to get paid twice for the same debt.

Well, as you noticed, I tend to get a bit detailed, but you get the idea. Then of course, if they are wrongly reporting on any of your credit reports, this is the time to find out ASAP....and for each violation, seek $1000.....for example, if they are reporting on all three of your reports that this debt is still owed, that's $3000 right there.

Dont let them get away with a slap on the wrist, this is worse than any deception a debt collector can pull! They got paid, and now all they are doing is trying to screw you over. DO NOT let them get off easy on this one. If you want, we can always prepare information for you, so you can take them to court without a lawyer. We have done it before with satisfactory results. Now, note this, I am not an attorney, and I do not at any time represent myself to be one, but if you want suggestions you can have those for free!

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While a letter might work for a CA, I doubt it will work for a court. The clerk in the mail room or the judge's asst would likely just toss it out, do you realize how many letters judges get in a day from someone pleading their case? I would file the necessary paperwork with the courts yourself. Call the Clerk of Courts in the county that it was filed with and petition the court that it was filed improperly, and attach whatever documentation you have showing that the debt was satisfied and the CA refuses to release judgment.

The courts will likely take you seriously once you file the necessary paperwork (and official ones rather than just a letter)

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WRONG sktdivr!! The FDCPA allows a judgement for every violation for 1000.00. I have been down that road with an attorney and won. Also it is not a good idea to give legal advice to a person to go into court without an attorney. You may be equipped educationally and with the experience to handle yourself with self confidence in a court room against an attorney with years of collection experience, which I seriously doubt, but please do not advise a lamb to face a lion in the court, where they would stand as much chance as you would stopping an NFC linebacker from sacking your quarterback. I am sorry but we are here to help people in their situations but not to give legal advice for which we are not qualified. No love lost. Just my opinion!

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And I completely edited my post.. as I believe frogpatch was talking to skydiver and didn't' see it lol apparently it's my bedtime.

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Thank you ALL! I will let you know what happens.

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Yes, I am aware of the order to show cause, but believe it or not some people on this very forum have simply written letters to the court and gotten results just fine. If a letter doesnt do the trick, the option is always there to petition the court with the order to show cause. I have personally written letters for a couple people here that they then sent to courts and got judgments vacated. You have to realize that the average person who has no education in "legal-speak" might not be taken seriously....but that doesnt mean that no one will.


Yeah, well, if you want to file a complaint for each one, then yes. But considering the weight of what's happened here, I dont feel that pursuing such a thing would work well, since the same act violates three different sections of the same law the court is not likely to allow you to file three separate suits to try to milk the money so to speak. If they had committed a half dozen separate acts, sure....but the one act of pursuing a judgment after PIF is likely to be heard only once by that court.


Please point out where I recommended that this person go to court without an attorney? Please show me where I advised such a thing. In fact, I didnt......

I DID, however, say this:

I made it quite clear what my personal preference was, and why. That does not in any way say that anyone could go to court without an attorney, or that anyone else should. I also have had multiple successful court experiences without an attorney, and thats where my being comfortable comes from.

I then went on to offer options....because he had already expressed difficulty in finding an attorney. I did not at any time tell him to go to court on his own. I said that I was not an attorney, but IF HE WANTED we could give suggestions. Truth be told, you should know better, because you have already seen me suggest plenty of times that someone speak to an attorney. I offered the same suggestion that you and many others have offered to people here time and again. So, I fail to see what the issue is with me saying that. Please, for the sake of helping others, dont read more into my posts than what I put into them.

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Skydiver, I am learning so much from you here. I also realize that you guys are here for informative purposes not legal advice. I can read my own state county court room procedures and state statutes myself and get my legal advice from those. I am greatful for the information provided by you.

I found this rule in my Colorado county court Rules:
(vacating and setting aside judgement may not even be possible, I will look further into this tommorrow)

Rule 361. Harmless Error

No error in either the admission or the exclusion of evidence and no error or defect in any ruling or order or in anything done or omitted by the court or by any of the parties is ground for granting a new trial or for setting aside a verdict or for vacating, modifying, or otherwise disturbing a judgment or order, unless refusal to take such action appears to the court inconsistent with substantial justice. The court at every stage of the proceeding must disregard any error or defect in the proceeding which does not affect the substantial rights of the parties.

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there's your way in right there---

one could easily argue that it is quite against substantial justice to order a judgment against you for a debt that you can prove was already paid in full. The whole purpose of a judgment is to give the plaintiff a means to collect money that is legitimately owed, and proving that you paid the debt in full means that not a penny was owed anymore. I would argue the fact that in any such debt collection case, if this evidence were brought to light that the debt was already paid in full, the case would be dismissed for that reason. That is very important because it illustrates that you are only asking for the same justice that the court routinely is obligated to render, and that you are not looking for any special exception.

More--

The judgment most definitely affects your rights. Anywhere else you go in this country, when proven not to owe a debt you shouldnt be forced into judgment on it or be forced to pay it. If it were me I would point out these things. If you were looking for a special circumstance or favor, I think you would have a harder time, but I cannot imagine a court having a problem digesting what took place here.

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Sis what state do you live in? I obtained a consumer rights attorney on retainer, we handled everything over the phone and email, he lives in a different state than I do. Palisades is horrible to deal with, but I just won a judgement against them!

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CA's really do have the upper hand don't they. I've called the Colorado Bar Assoc. and every lawyer referal service in my area and.... nobody. As I am unable to find a consumer rights lawyer to assist me in filing a lawsuit against this CA, I feel I will be unable to successfully prevail against them and they will be getting away with violating my civil rights.

I checked with the court and I can and I will be filing a motion to set aside and vacate judgement with the court for this case. At least thier is a possibility that something good will come of this. Thank you for the information that has lead me in the right direction.

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Sis, also if it's reported on your CBR's you can always dispute it as well. I thought about that this morning. When you dispute it, mark "Paid in full". Though not sure if they go to the courts or the orginal creditor when it's a judgement involved.

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I was wondering about that too. Who exactly places a judgement on to your CR? Skydiver said to mention in my petition to the court, " ask that the court reflect this change on any of my credit reports that the judgement may have been placed on." Does the court report judgement to the C.B?

FYI-I was just going to leave that part out of my motion to the court anyway because my CR shows no judgement on it. All of my CR's do show that I still owe money to Palisades though, recently reported.

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