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Concerned

I have been sued by Pressler and Pressler for a debt that I have never heard of and believe they have the wrong person. They made claims to addresses not mine, etc. After I received the summons I responded to the courts. Since then Pressler and Pressler has sent me paper work called Interrogatories, they state I must answer all the questions or they may get a default judgement. These questions are basically their investigation, where have I lived, what checking accounts have I used the last 5 years, etc. I am not answering these things, are they crazy! The questions also ask for copies of my drivers lisence etc. Is it true I have to answer these? They didn't come from the courts and it seems they are trying to scare me into answering. They said pursuant to the courts I have to answer them....what do I do? This isn't even my debt, I am not giving these guys my personal info, HELP!!!

Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 7:48 pm Subject:

Don't! You can fight this in court and win. Don't give them anything! They sound like charlatans. Talk to a lawyer of your own because this isn't right. It could even be a scam, keep that in mind.

Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 7:50 pm Subject:

Go to the Identity Theft forum and you will read of similar scenarios to this. Keep your guard WAY up and keep this forum close.

Concerned · Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 8:15 pm Subject: Sued

So I don't have to do these like they are stating? They say it is court mandated...if that is true why isn't the court asking for it? I'm confused. I want to make sure I'm not going to have them win by default if I don't do these.

Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 8:20 pm Subject:

If the court is not asking for it, then it is not court mandated. Since it is not your debt or your address on the claim, the whole thing does not hold water and these clowns have nothing they can hit your with in court.
Do not let your guard down! Have this investigated by proper authorities. This sounds like a scam and it must be stopped.

Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 9:07 pm Subject:

Talk to an attorney to reassure yourself. Good luck!

Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 10:02 pm Subject:

I think Virginia-Legal-Defense would be a good one to answer this...hopefully he/she will see this post.

Collectcorp Fraudsters · Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 11:31 am Subject:

Id show that to the police. Even if they wont help you, at least theres record of you attempting to file a report.

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 12:12 pm Subject:

Concerned

With all the fraud that's out there, it can be very easy for ANYONE to impersonate a law office and send you a piece of paper to steal your identity. Even if they are a law office, you should be very leary about answering these questions. Remember that they are optional, unless forced by the courts. In any event, if you're uncertain you can always consult with an attorney.

Regards-
Mike

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 12:58 pm Subject:

Concerned, you definitely need to get qualified legal assistance. If you are unable to afford an attorney, you may be able to get some legal aid type assistance in your state. Usually you can find a link by googleing your state and the words free legal aid.. like this washington free legal aid.. if you nede help let me know what state you live in and I will find it for you.

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:05 pm Subject: legal process when sued

When you're being sued, the first thing to remember is that it's basically designed to be a logical process, and if you get wrapped around the axle emotionally, then you're almost certainly going to lose, because you'll be focused on the wrong stuff and will miss that which is really important.

Ok, are they entitled to make you answer a bunch of dam'fool questions? Probably. It depends on what court you're in, and in what state. Interrogatories are questions directed to a party as part of the "discovery" process. Discovery is designed to help each side prepare for trial. You can send the plaintiff discovery, too, including Requests for Admissions, Requests for Production of Documents, Interrogatories, and you can depose the plaintiff or other witnesses, as well as interrogatories of your own.

The lowest level of trial court usually doesn't have a provision for discovery. Most states, in my experience, have two levels of trial court, there's a "court of record", often called the Circuit court (Supreme Court in N.Y.) in which all the really important, big-money civil cases are tried, as well as criminal cases for things like rape, robbery, and murder. The lower court usually is not a court of record, and they deal with the traffic tickets, misdemeanors, preliminary hearings, landlord/tenant stuff, and smaller dollar value civil cases. There is always discovery in the courts of record, almost never in the lower courts. So, look at the first piece of paper you got served on you, it should have some kind of paperwork attached with a signature of a clerk of court or deputy clerk. The name of the court will be on that paper. Call the clerk's office for that court and find out if it's a court of record (and anything else you're curious about, for that matter, keeping in mind that they're not lawyers and cannot give you legal advice). Then, see if you can find out on the internet whether the rules of civil procedure permit discovery in that court. I suggest going to court and watching a day of trials and hearings in cases like yours - you may see a sympathetic lawyer (i.e., one who represents defendants) who'll tell you what's what for free in the hallway after a hearing (if he blows you off, just ask another one).

You almost certainly have a limited amount of time in which to prepare and file a written response to the plaintiff's initial pleadings; and if you don't do it, that's going to give the plaintiff a slam dunk.

Btw, file a motion for monetary sanctions against the law firm - if they filed suit against the wrong person as a result of a failure to figure out whom to sue correctly, that's a waste of your time and the court's time, and the citizens' tax dollars. You lose time from work, have to hire a lawyer (you really, really should, you know), you're entitled to recover all that back. If you take active steps to defend yourself promptly, on the theory that they're suing the wrong person, they'll almost certainly back off pretty quickly.

But the simple answer is, you probably do have to answer the interrogatories. Remember that you don't have to be right to sue someone. Anyone can go down to the local court house and sue anyone at anytime for any reason (of course, if it's a bad reason, there's always sanctions). It's up to you to defend yourself and if you fail to do it, then they can get a default judgment and you'll have to pay it. You can protest the injustice of it to the high heavens, but you'll pay that judgment. Btw, in most courts, you can't get a default judgment against someone for a failure to answer interrogatories, but you can get them held in contempt for failure to respond, and one of the sanctions available in that case (aside from a small amount of jail time) is summary judgment.

Please, please, please, find a good trial lawyer who defends people in civil cases (other than an insurance company defense lawyer) and buy half an hour of his/her time (the appropriate pronoun for me, btw, is "he"), to get some straight stuff about your situation. (Hint: If you call lawyers who do personal injury work in your area, and ask them whom they'd hire to defend them if they were sued for the debts of another person, after a while, the same two or three names will keep coming up. Call one of those two or three attorneys.)

My email address is available, you can click one of the three icon things at the bottom of the message, or the "author's kit" thing on the upper left, if you like. Anyone can feel free to email me; after all, the worst that could happen is that I might choose not to reply. And, of course, I can't practice law outside of Virginia (although I am admitted to practice in the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, which sometimes takes me outside of Va. - one time I had to drive to South Carolina for a hearing before the 4th C., because that's where they happened to be sitting on the day my hearing was scheduled. What a pain. Lost on that one, too. And I usually tell people I don't go to court South of Petersburg, Va.)

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 7:55 pm Subject:

Thank you very much, Virginia-Legal-Defense I am certain that your advice and information came to be good medecine for Concerned, and now Concerned can properly prepare to take this head on and prove them wrong.

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 1:04 am Subject: jj

jj - that was a good post. Many write about contacting a Lawyer but how do you pay for it? If someone is being sued for a debt then they most likely do not have the disposable income on hand to pay for a Lawyer.

Help with finding free legal advice is much needed around here.

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 5:46 am Subject:

A good place to start is www.lsc.gov - that's the website for the Legal Services Corporation; they have branches just about everywhere, and that website gives a way to find someone in your state. You can also use a search engine for your own state with the phrase, "legal services corporation".
(Obviously, they have a greater presence in more populous areas.) They are chronically underfunded, and have a hard time keeping up with the workload, so be patient with them. They provide free or nearly-free legal service to people who can't pay. My experience with the quality of the legal work has always been positive, although their waiting areas are cluttered and not as clean as one might like, and getting through to a lawyer isn't as easy as one might like, again, because of the workload and lack of adequate funding.

Secondly, call the local office of the bar association. In some states, the bar association is a statewide thing, in others, it's county-by-county. Either way, they almost always have a lawyer referral service, and can usually help find special arrangements for people who can't pay the usual rates. The quickest way is to check a search engine online for the state and county, with the terms, "bar association", e.g., "madison county indiana bar association". You may find either a county bar association or a state association or both, but it'll give you a path.

Call local law schools. Many have a program whereby law students in the last year of study can take on cases under the supervision of a practicing lawyer. They can often do better for you than a more experienced lawyer because (1) they don't know what they can't do yet and (2) they're motivated to work hard.

Call your friends and relatives and ask them if they know any attorneys who are any good. Call those attorneys and ask them if they do the kind of work you're looking for. If not, ask them for a referral.

In many cases, you'll be following what in data-processing terms is called a "linked list" - that is, each call will get you a phone number to call, until you get to the person who can help you. It may take you forty or fifty calls, but if you need help at a reasonable price, you'll put forth the effort. But remember, there's a difference between a "discount lawyer" and "discounted-price legal services". Lawyers are like anyone else - some of them are really good, some are really bad, and most are average. Don't be afraid to show up and talk to several of them, but one piece of advice - don't try to sell a lawyer on taking your case by telling him it's going to be precedent setting, in the interests of justice, or good for his career. Any lawyer who'd be good enough to represent you has a builtin crap-detector. The people who really turn me off want justice, want it now, want it on their own terms, want it to be free, and want me to get it for them because I'm "a professional". If you're asking for a favor, don't be afraid to ask, but don't load up your request with a bunch of hooey, because that's a sure path to rejection. Like B.B. King said in a song, "don't be too proud to beg" - if you need help, ask for help. God will provide someone who will help (regardless of what anyone thinks "god" represents).

Guest · Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 5:08 pm Subject:

That is a classic scare tactic for a collection agency. Do not send them any personal Info! Send them a certified letter stating that you are not responsible for this debt & that if they do not cease contacting you, you will contact the Federal Trade Commission & file a complaint. If they continue to harrass you after that, you have grounds for legal action vs. them under the fair credit act.

GUEST · Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 5:07 am Subject:

The last comment is way wrong. Don't ignore legal proceedings or you will loose. You have to participate in the legal process. If you disagree with the discovery request then you have to file a motion or objection. Just ignoring it and refusing to particpate means you will loose. When you loose they get a judgment and then can start taking your assets. Don't ever listen to anybody who tells you to ignore legal proceedings. Terrible advice.

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