Honestly, I would write a letter to the court at this point, and it would basically look something like this...
Quote:
Date
Case number
To Whom it may concern:
This notice shall serve as my petition to the court to have the judgment vacated in the above-noted case. The plaintiff filed suit against me on (date), seeking the sum of (amount). Judgment was entered against me on (date) for said amount. Enclosed with this notice is a copy of a letter I received from plaintiff on (date of letter), clearly showing that this debt was paid in full before the date of judgment. Prior to the date of judgment, plaintiff informed me at the time they sent the paid in full letter that they were going to have the case dismissed. Obviously, they chose not to do so. Their action of proceeding with a lawsuit against me even after they admitted being paid in full is no less than fraudulent, as well as being a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Over the last several months I have repeatedly been in contact with the plaintiff. Each time, I have been promised that they were going to file a satisfaction of judgment. However, they have up to this point also refused to do so. At this time, I am not seeking for the judgment to be reported as satisfied, because the judgment was obtained fraudulently and never should have been placed against me in the first place. Of course, this judgment severely impacts my credit rating, which also puts the plaintiff in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Their repeated refusal to accurately report to both this court and to the credit reporting agencies the proper status of this debt is adversely affecting my credit score. Due to the correct status of this debt, and due to the plaintiff's fraudulent and deceptive handling of this matter, I therefore ask that the court vacate and set aside the judgment against me and consider this matter dismissed. I also ask that the court reflect this change on any of my credit reports that the judgment may have been placed on. I am also enclosing a copy of the receipt showing the date that I paid the plaintiff in full.
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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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