I really need some help

Well, you can try to talk to them before the court date and see if they'll work with you. Being upfront about your situation and telling them what you can do in terms of payments will help. If they don't talk to you or you can't get through to talk to anyone, start taking notes as to the dates and times you called and what the outcome of the calls were. If you're able to get through to them and work something out, make sure they withdraw the complaint or it will go into default.

If they won't work with you and want you to have a day in court, make sure you go. Gather any and all evidence about the contact you've had with them. If they haven't sent you any letters or correspondence and you tell that to the judge, it is up to them to prove you wrong. However, this is most likely small claims court. Small claims tries to get the parties to mediate (settle) the matter. This give you the opportunity to show the mediator and the creditor what you can handle. The mediator will assist in helping the creditor to come to an agreement that you can afford. That way, there will be no judgment on your credit record. So, if the opportunity to mediate is offered, by all means, jump at the opportunity. If not, ask the judge if you can mediate it. If you do get a chance to mediate and you sign an agreement, whatever you do, do not default on it because the agreement would likely have a provision in it that you don't get a second chance and a judgment could be entered against you.

Hope this helps.

Is there anything in specific I should ask for from them, if I can work something out?

Would there be a reason why it states on the "credit line" that it was $1,000, whenever it was only $200? I really thought we had taken care of the money he owed a couple of years ago(he lost his job and we got behind), so it just kind of confuses me even more.

Thanks for your help.

Have you ever tried to validate the debt? Usually that's done early on. You can try to ask for that. From a legal standpoint if you are going to be sued for something, you are entitled to the "discovery" or evidence that they have against you. And yes, you can ask for that early on. If they decide not to give that to you before the court date, then they definitely have to give it to you in court. Again, you can explain the situation to the judge and say it was oversight and you would like to mediate. The court usually has several mediators there in the courtroom who will assist you in the mediation.

I called the collections agency this morning listed on the lawsuit - they told me that they don't own it and referred me to another company, who also told me that they don't own it. I called the lawyer again, with no answer.

If we pay the collection agency listed on the lawsuit, that won't take care of the debt, will it? I'm really beginning to believe that we're now being scammed, because none of this is adding up. The credit line doesn't match, this is the first time we've ever even heard of anything being owed(in almost six years), and no one is claiming to own it.

I would send a debt validation letter to the CA on the letter that you received. You can find a sample letter in the DIY section of the forum. Send it certified mail with return receipt requested. This way you will have proof that they received it. Are you able to leave voice mails with the lawyer? Keep documentation on the calls attempted to him. Also, you may want to contact the court house to see who is actually sueing you for this debt.

I actually just called the courthouse and they told me it was the collection agency that said they didn't own it. I told her what they said, so she redirected me to the credit card company, who redirected me to another collection agency, who isn't in business anymore.

I've written down every place I've called, the times I called, who I spoke to, and any other information they've given me, so I do have that. We've now attempted to contact the lawyer, with no response, three times and another woman that we were redirected to once.

I'll send out a debt validation letter to the CA on the summons. Is there anything else I need to do in response to the summons, or would that be considered a reply?

I really appreciate all the help I'm receiving. Thank you.

ok.....time to get into "bad guy" mode; first thing comes to my mind is; this "lawyer" may have worked for the company that is no longer in business & if he was owed money by the agency that is out of business? he might have accepted uncollected accounts as a partial settlement for services rendered. I forget the term for that kind of situation...."assigns or assignment". Like I've stated, not a lawyer nor do I pretend to be one.

2nd thing is: pull your credit reports if you haven't. inspect them carefully, make sure that the "lawyer" hasn't shown recent activity on this supposed account. Try hard to locate the name of the original creditor, contact them. And definitely find a lawyer & file for discovery at the least or stall this by requesting more time from the judge due to the complication of not being able to confirm or verify the debt......show up at court too. it just may be this "lawyer" is just another playa in the debt collection game & running a con.

third thing: track his telephone number, make an inquiry with his states bar association to find out if he is on the up & up. always better to be safe than sorry later on.

;)

I just pulled his credit report - there *is* one from "TRAKAmerica".

The collection agency on the summons redirected me to TRAKAmerica, saying they no longer owned it. According to their website, they help find "suit worthy" accounts. Does this sound at all fishy? TRAKAmerica claimed not to own it, too, then told me to contact the lawyer on the summons. If I'm understanding all of this correctly, does it sound like the lawyer is actually the one who "owns" it, not any collection agency? If that is the case, how can he claim he is suing in the name of the CA?

Well, you received a summons, so there is a live person somewhere in here. Your greatest evidence here now is the documentation you've been building. the judge will find it very interesting that the attorney is not returning calls. I think these guys are assuming that you won't show up and they'll get a default judgment and just garnish. Which, by the way, is what typically happens. Most people get so frozen by not knowing what to do that they do nothing. Creditors count on this because it happens so frequently and garnishment is just another step in the process. Moral: stand up for yourself and fight. I sounds like you will have a good case if you have tried to validate the debt and no response. If they bring proof to court, they have to provide it to you. And again, you can either get the case dismissed or you can mediate it, depending on what happens in court.

The summons doesn't have a court date on it, it just says we need to contact the attorney, but he doesn't seem all too interested in talking to us. I'm wondering if he's just now sitting back and not replying to see if we wait it out for him to respond, so we can't give our response in time?

Is a debt validation letter considered a response to the attorney in regard to the suit? I should submit one to the clerk of courts too, right? I know, at the very least, that the amount on the "credit line" is totally wrong.

Thanks again.

what mail address did the letter come from?

It came from the "clerk municipal court". Do you want me to post the address?

nah, the addresss of the attorney should be on be listed on the summons as well, sorry I didnt specify

;)

*chuckle*

Sorry, I'm kind of out of it tonight. *shakes head*

Actually, the lawyer's address is the *only* address on it. The only way I knew the name of the CA was because it was right above the lawyer's name on the summons.

ok, put it up....I'll go see what I can dig up. is this is right from his office too?

;)

Attorney Yale Levy R
903 Eastwind Drive
Westerville, Ohio 43081

did this come directly from him or via your local court ?

thanks!

;)

It isn't even our local court, it was filed in a city two hours away from us. It came from the clerk of courts in that city and we never received other notices about even owing anything to the CA, let alone the lawyer.

he's not turning up in the State of Ohio's business records database.....lemme try anothe thin, phone number too by the way forgot to ask for it lol

614-898-5200

ok......brb

what state are you in?

I'm in Ohio.

i may be doing something wrong here but neither him or the company turn up in Ohio SoS database...an attorney does to file with Ohio to practice any kind of law.....brb!

I'm so confused about all of this.

The CA listed on the summons said they do *not* own it, TRAKAmerica does. If TRAKAmerica isn't licensed in the state of Ohio to do business, would that be the reason why the lawyer listed the other CA on the summons?

whats the name of the other CA? all that info plese

It is "EMCC Receivables, LLC".

ok, city, address yada yada

It isn't on the summons, but this is what we found and where we called.

Address:

33 Riverside Drive
Pembroke, MA 02359

And the number we called is:

1-800-783-2055

My husband spoke to a "Lucille", who said they do not own it. She gave him the phone number to TRAKAmerica, which is 1-800-277-4431. He spoke the an "Anoushka" at TRAKAmerica.

Their based out of New York......link for 'em here:

http://www.trakamerica.com/contact.html

and they filed two hrs up the road from y'all.....hmmm
ok, when is your court date?

There isn't a court date on the summons anywhere. The only thing it says is that we need to respond to the attorney or EMCC.

Ok.....so, is it a notorized stamped summons? signatured by the county clerk or ?

EMCC & Affliates links;

link 1:http://www.emccinc.com/
link 2:http://www.equiant.com/
link 3:http://www.sbcapitalgroup.com/

get the addresses off the websites, get the DV letters flying, send a letters to Yale, Levy R. via certified return receipt mail to his addy up in westerville.....

The "letter" part of it, stating we need to respond, has no signatures, stamps, etc. The copy of the complaint has a "filed" stamp on it, but nothing else. It was sent by certified mail.

This is where I get really confused, though... the "charge-off statement" at the back of the complaint lists a $1,000 credit line, whenever the credit line was only $200. This statement is not from the original creditor, but from EMCC. If I'm not mistaken, this isn't proof that we owe them anything, is it?

ETA: Do we send a DV letter to Yale Levy as the response to the summons? If so, do we just say "This is in response to the summons, in regards to" and go from there?

nupe........get 4 DV's ready to go by Monday AM, drop one each on all three of EMCC's companies & the last DV you could putt it up the dudes tail for all i care...j/k *chuckle* send his flakey tail one for sure


;)

*chuckle*

filed my a$$.......then Monday? You also file complaints with A:) Ohio AG, SoS (for him not having an Ohio license to practice law)do the same with the BBB & rattle his brain hard as heck if he's got one...

Thank you SO much for all the help! I've got everything written up, just need to print and send out Monday.

I am so happy this website exists.

make sure you DO NOT confirm the debt.....make them prove all of it. Make a couple copies of that "summons" too so you can keep the original with you & send the copies off. wish i'd known much earlier it was just rubber stamped "filed".

Anytime paperwork is filed with a city,county & state court.....a clerk will imprint a notary seal thats visible & legible, stating with a signature & date it is indeed on file in whatever clerk of court office.

Heres the link to Ohios Deprtment of Finance:

https://com.state.oh.us/dfi/dfifaq.htm

;)

give 'em nothing but pure hell for that one!

*chuckle*

Thank you thank you thank you!

I seriously can't thank you enough... we almost gave this guy money without even validating the debt. We're on a really tight budget as it is, so this would have more than put us over the top to even meet basic needs.

ETA: One more question... how do we reply to the clerk of courts? Do we send a copy of the DV letter we're sending the attorney?

check with jurisdiction he supposedly "filed" in just to be safe. take your copy with you if this does go to court. I'll post moer later, gonna do some snooping on a several things, okie dokie?

relax, have a cup of coffee....


;)

I made copies of *everything* today, printed the DV letters to each CA, made copies of those letters, then organized everything that we need to keep into a binder. If nothing else, we are very organized and prepared, lol.

alrighty then! give 'em pure hell ;)

*chuckle*

I fully intend on it. ;)

Does anyone know how to request evidence as a discovery request? Does anyone have a sample letter to follow? Should it be sent to the lawyer or filed with the court. Read a little on discovery, really interested in knowing more. Please advise.

i called the attorney sueing me and through discovery found out it was trakamerica who actually received the call and noted the conversation. i thought i was talking to the local attornys office but it was actualy 2000 miles away. this whole thing is a scam. fight them as hard as you can. pick on a weakness and keep filing motions.

We received a summons today for a debt we do owe on but have been trying to obtain a settlement. It has no date to show up at court...just a request to reply to them within 20 days. It is signed by the county clerk and noterized.

I'm confused...are they suing me or not? Where do I find the court date? Why send out a summons if you don't have the date?

I am not sure if the company sent you fake legal papers, because some of them do. Go to the local county and verify the case. You will know if there is any court date on which you need to appear. If it's done in the legal way, then you need to file your answers.

ricelt

how do i place a lien on another persons car. this person does not live in my state.