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Home depot debt/recieved papers in mail

Date: Sat, 12/15/2007 - 06:15

Submitted by anonymous
on Sat, 12/15/2007 - 06:15

Posts: 202330 Credits: [Donate]

Total Replies: 41


I recieved what look like court papers in the mail today from asset acceptance llc for Home Depot. This is in my husbands name, and he is disabled and out of work. I have 4 children and cannot imagine what the heck this is about. I cannot remember having a bill from HD come to the house, and now this! We have no money, Christmas around the corner, and I cannot sleep from worrying.
What can they do to us? HELP!!


[quote=Guest]I recieved what look like court papers in the mail today from asset acceptance llc for Home Depot. This is in my husbands name, and he is disabled and out of work. I have 4 children and cannot imagine what the heck this is about. I cannot remember having a bill from HD come to the house, and now this! We have no money, Christmas around the corner, and I cannot sleep from worrying.
What can they do to us? HELP!![/quote]

It's a violation of Federal law for a collection agency to send you anything that looks like court papers, unless they're actually court papers. I kinda doubt it in this case. It's a common scare tactic collectors use. You can check to see if those are real court papers by calling the court clerk's office.

Read this about Asset Acceptance. Also do a search on this site for them. They are among the lowest of the low.


lrhall41

Submitted by unclewulf on Sat, 12/15/2007 - 06:26

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So, should I call them? Should I also call the county clerk? They claim to have filed here in suffolk, there is a Nassau county lawyer name on them, and it is notarized in michigan? You don;t think they are real court papers? Why would they do this to us?
I'm so confused, and I'm afraid they will try to freeze our accounts and I won't be able to pay the mortgage (that we are barely making as it is!)
I'm truly terrified over this whole thing. This is like a nightmare.


lrhall41

Submitted by on Sat, 12/15/2007 - 06:48

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I don't know if they're real court papers of not. I haven't seen them. I do know that the whole deal sound fishy to me. Note that I'm not a legal expert. Seems to me that if they were actually suing, there'd have been dunning letters, phone calls, etc., first. I do know that they can't freeze your accounts without first obtaining a judgement.

I don't think the county clerk is gonna be your ticket. They usually deal with things like deeds and marriage licenses, at least in the places where I've lived. You want to talk to someone at the clerk-of-court's office. They're the folks that handle papers, schedule cases on the docket, all like that.

I find it odd that the papers would be notarized in Michigan... I'm assuming you mean Michigan the state, right? I don't find any listing of a city/county by that name in your area. I did find that Asset Acceptance has some doin's in Warren. Michigan, though. Seems like if they were actually suing you out of that office, they'd have filed with a court there....

As to why they'd do this to ya... Did you read the linked material in my first reply? Did you see the bit in my reply about scare tactics? They obviously want to collect money from you, that's their reason for existence. If they can make you run scared, their task becomes enourmously easier. Scared people often make mistakes.

I wouldn't call them, at least until you're certain f what you're actually dealing with. Hang in here for a bit, and look for a reply from a fellow called Hockeyman. Hopefully, he'll see this when he's on next.


lrhall41

Submitted by unclewulf on Sat, 12/15/2007 - 07:53

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How would I know if I had a judgement? This says "consumer credit transaction". It is in the state of Michigan, and it was filed there. The lawyer that is named is located in Nassau County, NY.

I read the link you gave me (thank you!) and it does show that this company is nasty. I know they want money, but this is a horrible way to do things.

Do you think I should try to just bypass these collection people and call Home Depot?

I am very confused by this letter and I'm scared for my family. Could they try to take our home? Our mortgage is completely up to date on payments, (and that's being done by magic tricks and loads of pasta dinners) so I'm hoping they can't do that!
I'm sorry for sounding so ignorant-I'm just really frightened by this!


lrhall41

Submitted by Proud2bamericangirl on Sat, 12/15/2007 - 08:09

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No-It's not an actual "letter". It just says consumer credit transaction and then the next page says he's summoned to appear but the date is September 11th 2007. Why would I get this now, and does that mean it was filed then? My husband was hospitalized the following week, so he wouldn't have been abled to appear anyway (he was in the ICU!) but I never recieved anything before now!


lrhall41

Submitted by Proud2bamericangirl on Sat, 12/15/2007 - 08:20

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[quote=Proud2bamericangirl]Wow-that is some letter! I will send it out, certified mail. There is no SS# on either of these sheets, and I won't be supplying one-they will have to look in thir files for it, right? If it's a valid debt?

WHat do you think of that postmark date? Mailed YESTERDAY![/quote]


Someone with more expertise in these matters may be able to give you a valid reason to supply your SSN, but I rather doubt it. Granted, I'm no expert. Just a biker with a bad attitude and a woody for unethical debt collectors.

My policy is to never give a sucker an even break. When dealing with collectors, that means that if they don't have the info, they ain't getting it from me. If it's germane to a valid debt they should have your/husband's SSN in their possession as part of the file. If they don't have it, tough. They can get it from the original creditor if they need it.


lrhall41

Submitted by unclewulf on Sat, 12/15/2007 - 09:35

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Check with your county's court clerk to see if the case is real and if a judgment was already awarded. If so you need to speak to the judge overseeing the case and ask to have the judgment vacated due to improper service. If it is not a real summons sue the pants off of them for forging a court document. The fact that it was allegedly filed in your home state with a lawyer from your county, notarized in MI, and mailed from NY sounds pretty weird. I think you should look into this and don't be surprised if it ends up being fake.


lrhall41

Submitted by JCEMT on Sat, 12/15/2007 - 10:35

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Actually, the lawyer is located in a neighboring county!
I will send out that letter via certified mail. I'm really confused about the situation, and I must admit, if I'm having a nervous breakdown over a fake court letter, I'm going to be more than a little angry.
I'm hoping that no judgement was found against us-I'm so short on money to begin with to try and fight, or pay would be a lesson in futility right now.
Maybe I should take the mortgage money out of my husbands name and put it in my individual account? Just in case?
Again-thank you for all your help!


lrhall41

Submitted by Proud2bamericangirl on Sat, 12/15/2007 - 11:41

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Fake or not, there are only two ways to find out. You could ignore it and hope it's fake [not recommended!] Or you can call the court and find out for sure. Either way, it's Saturday night and you can't do anything until Monday, so calm down. We don't want your head to explode or anything......

As I think you've already been told, send the letter certified mail, return reciept requested, even if the lawyer is just up the road. It's often helpful to be able to prove they got the letter.

As to taking the mortgage money out of the one account and putting it in your individual account, some folks would probably call that over-reacting. I'm not one of those folks. It's cheap insurance. If it makes you sleep better, do it. As long as the mortgage gets paid, right? Myself, I tend to keep the 'mortgage money' [not that I have a mortgage] in the First National Bank of Mattress. Let'em try to freeze that account........


lrhall41

Submitted by unclewulf on Sat, 12/15/2007 - 14:43

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________COURT OF THE CITY OF ________
COUNTY OF_____________________
_____________________
Index No. ____
)
Plaintiff, ) SUMMONS
) Plaintiff's Residence
-against- ) Address:
)
)
Defendant, )
)
______________________________________
To the above named defendant:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to appear in the.....Court of the City of ..... , located at ....., in said City, County of ....., State of New York, by serving an answer* to the annexed complaint upon plaintiff's attorney at the address stated below, or if there is no attorney, upon the plaintiff at the address stated above, within the time provided by law as noted below; upon your failure to so answer, judgment will be taken against you for the relief demanded in the complaint, together with the costs of this action.

Dated: the _____ day of _____, 19 _____

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff

Post-office Address

Telephone Number



Note: The law provides that:

(1) if this summons is served by its delivery to you personally within the County of....., you must answer within 10 days after such service; or

(2) if this summons is served by delivery to any person other than you personally, or is served outside the County of....., or by publication, or by any means other than personal delivery to you within the County of ....., you are allowed 30 days after service is complete within which to answer.

__________________________

*You need not physically go to the court to serve an answer.



Historical Note
Sec. filed Jan. 9, 1986; amd. filed May 4, 1992 eff. April 28, 1992. Amended (d).
Deleted (d) on Aug. 9, 2007 (previous version)


This is what I recieved. Scary, huh? I don't know what all of it means exactly, but it seems (according to the form) that we don't have to appear in court-but they want us to answer to the attorney. I'm hoping after I send the validation letter tomorrow, that the whole business will turn out to be a mistake.


lrhall41

Submitted by on Sun, 12/16/2007 - 05:44

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Whoa girl! Look at me!! Breathe, dammit!!!

That's better. :)

Never give up. No situation is truly hopeless until you say it is.

Sending the validation letter can't make things any worse, I wouldn't think. Go ahead and send it, unless one of our resident experts [Hockeyman, Law Student, Cajunbulldog] tells you otherwise.

Now, about the form... You tell me that the form is dated 9/11, but the envelope it arrived in is postmarked 12/14? [You saved the envelope, right?] There's something fishy there. If they file suit, they have to serve you the papers in a timely manner. That's what formal service of documents is for. So, logically, one of two conditions must be true. Either [a] they filed and went ahead with the case without providing you proper service [illegal!] or they typed up the papers and just filed them. Seems unlikely, but ya never know. If they'd gone with [a] above, I'd expect them to be mailing you a notice of judgement, not a summons. Is there a court filing stamp on the documents anywhere? Some places, the paper they serve has to get court-stamped before it goes to you. Dunno about NY, as my one and only experience with it was in Oklahoma, decades ago.

You're going to have to answer the summons. Go ahead and prepare your answer for the court and the other side. Looking at the document you posted, the note [2] at the bottom says you have thirty days from the time service is complete to file the answer. To my uneducated eye, that means sometime middle of January, since you just received the summons and complaint end of the week.

Regardless, your next order of business here is to call the court and find out what's going on. Tomorrow. First thing in the morning. The court's phone number may be on the document, or it may not, but the name of the court is. Look'em up in the phone book if there's no other way, but call'em. Keep calm, and just ask'em what the status of the case is. Case number oughtta be on the documents.

I really hope this is helping you. Like I said before, I'm no expert. But I can pass along the accumulated wisdom of the community here.

Good luck! And post back when you hear what's up, OK?


lrhall41

Submitted by unclewulf on Sun, 12/16/2007 - 15:46

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unklewulf is right, something sounds funny, and always keep envelopes dunning letters or other such things come in. Some have been sued over what is on the envelope. First call your court clerk and find out if a judgment has already been warded in this case. As for taking money out of your husband's name, I won't work. They have a pretty keen eye on shifting assets around before or shortly after a law suit. In the case of bankruptcy court for example, they go back three years for transfers of assets.


lrhall41

Submitted by Law Student on Sun, 12/16/2007 - 15:56

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Thanks for chiming in here, Law Student!

I thought I was on the right track, but I appreciate the confirmation.

As to her mortgage money... Rather than simply shifting assets from one account to the other, could she just put it on the mortgage a little early? That's what it's for, after all.


lrhall41

Submitted by unclewulf on Sun, 12/16/2007 - 16:09

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Thank you so much! There doesn't appear to be a case number-just a hand written number at the top. That may be their file number, I guess? I will call the court in the morning, but can I just use our name? I will also send out the validation letter-they DO list an account number for reference, so maybe I can get to the bottom of this. I cannot imagine my husband letting anything slip past him-he's normally on top of these things. (of course now he's not so very with it)I kept the envelope-that's what makes it all seem so weird. Could they just be giving me a scare tactic before filing? Either way-I'm scared, so I guess they're good at what they do.
I did transfer the money, via computer, but I do things like that all the time so maybe it will not look weird. It's not very much, but we do need it!

Do I send the letter (validation) to the attorney AND the collection agency? Maybe that would be best? Again, thank you so much for all your help-it is good to talk to some knowledgeable and nice people.


lrhall41

Submitted by Proud2bamericangirl on Sun, 12/16/2007 - 16:17

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On calling the court, just tell'em what you've got. They'll help you figure it out.

On the DV letter, I'd definitely send it to the attorney. Sending it to the CA won't hurt a bit, either. Let'em dig.

Could be a scare tactic, or maybe not. But you know how to find out now, don't ya? Keep us posted. We're here for ya.

[quote=Proud2bamericangirl]-it is good to talk to some knowledgeable and nice people.[/quote]

Nice! :!: :!: :!:

Damn! Now I gotta clean up my image.....


lrhall41

Submitted by unclewulf on Sun, 12/16/2007 - 17:16

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A case number is stamped with the Court name and docket number it is not hand written in.

Also Asset Acceptance will lie to you about anything and everything.

Also they will not respond to your request for documents.

Keep the green card that you get back from the Post Office. If it turns out that the suit is real (which I doubt). You can use these in court as proof that they are not following the law (improper notice of service and failure to validate).

If it turns out that the suit is not real you will need to file a complaint with your state's Attorney General against AAC and the Lawyer.

Also file a complaint with the state (where the lawyer is located) Bar against the lawyer.


lrhall41

Submitted by on Sun, 12/16/2007 - 18:57

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Yes, it seems valid as there needs to be a verification statement enclosed with the summons and complaint. Do you live in Suffolk county?

Is this filed in supreme court or is it local civil?

As for the answer, this must be filed with the Plaintiff's Counsel within twenty days along with an affidavit of service. I will post a generic New York answer in a little bit, the answer need not be filed with court as this is not required in NY, but do go to court and have a copy stamped filed with the court.

In New York, yes an index number may be hand written on the summons and complaint.

Most county clerks in new york do not even give the Plaintiff a copy of the S+C with the index number stamped on it, it is usually a 3-6 digit number/the year (in this case 2007) or it will be a YEAR-CIV-Index number in local civil court. Please let me know further details, you may also want to serve a demand packet along with it.


lrhall41

Submitted by on Sun, 12/16/2007 - 20:10

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YOU MUST SERVE THE ANSWER UPON THE PLAINTIFF FIRST, then fill out an affidavit of service by mail (have someone else sign it, then have it notarized). THE COURT WILL REJECT YOUR ANSWER IF YOU DID NOT SERVE IT UPON THE PLAINTIFF FIRST. This is my home turf, everyone else is leading you to a default judgment.

In New York, appearances are not triggered automatically with the filing of an action. In fact, this case hasn't even hit the court yet, it is still in the county clerk's office.

You will not receive a date until a "Request for Judicial Intervention" has been filed in accordance with a motion/request for preliminary conference/etc.

Chances are, if you answer the complaint, you will wait a short period (up to 2 months) before seeing a courtroom


lrhall41

Submitted by on Sun, 12/16/2007 - 20:16

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there seems to be a rash of things of late being notarized in suffolk county new york alot by a Alisa Tetro.Also in this rash are business names /attorney names being listed with a address in Nassua County New York is this address familiar?????
6851 Jericho Turnpike, #190
Syosset, NY 11791


lrhall41

Submitted by on Mon, 12/17/2007 - 07:22

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Actually, it was notarized in MI!! Then, somehow I got it-in suffolk county. The lawyer is in Nassau, the creditor is somewhere else, and Santa is in the North Pole.
I'm so confused by all the legal phrases. I called the court, and made the colossal mistake of telling them I was "the wife" well, apparently I can suffer the issue, but not know details. The clerk didn't even check to see if there was a record-he just told me I had no right to ask. *sigh*
I did send out the validation letters-to both Asset acceptance and the attorney. Hopefully there will be a long response time in answering so I can save some money in case this gets bad.
You guys are really helping me keep my sanity-I know the dire straits my finances are in due to my husbands condition, but that was something I can deal with-pinch pennies, etc...but this right before Christmas-with 4 kids 11 and under...dangit-this is keeping me up at night.
Thanks again, all of you who are holding my hand-I really appreciate it.


lrhall41

Submitted by Proud2bamericangirl on Tue, 12/18/2007 - 06:42

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Glad to see you back.

Hockeyman was on this thread a bit ago, and may yet revisit ir. Listen to him. He is The Man when it comes to this sort of thing where you live. He's also a licensed attorney, from what I understand.

Best of luck with it, and please stay in touch. We'll be here for you when you need us.


lrhall41

Submitted by unclewulf on Tue, 12/18/2007 - 09:41

( Posts: 3172 | Credits: )




Thank you! I realize I look like a complete moron, but what is an answer? Is there a form to fill out, or is it a letter?
Was it a good thing that I sent out the validation letter? NY really IS the pits for any kind of court issue, this debt is supposedly under 5000. but the attorney tacked on another grand for the stamp I'm guessing.
I'm hoping against hope that they have no valid record of this-I certainly don't!


lrhall41

Submitted by on Tue, 12/18/2007 - 10:55

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An answer is merely a response to a complaint, I will post another thread where people can post their answers for the respective states as well as the affirmative defenses.

This is a legal form, which is pretty much a formality.

How many lines are on the complaint?

Second response

The attorney that's suing you could be in Albany for all matters, it's still kosher. Most attorneys handling stuff out on the island are located in Nassau for matters, take a ride into Mineola and look at the law offices. Then take a look at riverhead and see the lack of attorneys, same goes for central islip in comparison.

The only reason a document was notarized in Michigan is because the doc was executed out there.


lrhall41

Submitted by on Tue, 12/18/2007 - 18:29

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ok, I have a few questions, please forgive me if you already mentioned these things

1--you live in Suffolk County, NY, is this correct?

2--what county is this listed in at the top of that letter? In other words, what county and state was this sent to the court in?

OK, let's cover some details here. NY allows 120 days from the date the complaint is originally filed with the court, for you to be served. That means, if the 9/11/07 date represents when they first filed the complaint, then this is within that 120 days. Does it state what that date represents on the letter?

Next, they can legally serve you by mail. But they must include some things in that letter. It should have come with two identical forms, called "acknowledgement of receipt". You must fill one of these out and send it back within 30 days from the date you were served. That form should read like this:



Simply put, if the summons came with a complaint made by the plaintiff, then you are allowed 30 days to send the acknowledgement of service that I already mentioned. You then have 20 days from the date that the acknowledgement was sent to send off your answer. The two choices you have listed on the paperwork do not mention this. I also did not find anything within the NY law that mentions the 10 day time limit for answering the summons, as your letter mentions. I know that doesnt apply to your situation but it may give a hint as to whether or not this is real. I will, however, say that what I found in the law directly contradicts paragraph (2) as it reads on the letter you received. Please do not take that to mean it must be fake--check it out to make sure!


lrhall41

Submitted by skydivr7673 on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 20:04

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depends on the court..read the summons,It specifies the time frame within which you must answer a complaint, In New York it is typically 20 or 30 days, depeding on how you were served. However, i have seen cases where answer was required within 10 days. As I recall it was a town or justice court. Read the face of the summons very carefully to confirm the time frame for your answer. And then read it again, even more carefully. Then, mark your calendar and do not default. have someone (not you) send a copy of the answer out to the other side and have that person make out an affidavit indicating that this was done, Then take that affidaviot and the original answer to the clerk of the court and file it.


lrhall41

Submitted by on Mon, 01/14/2008 - 02:31

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