Questions Regarding Garnishment/Bank Levies
Date: Thu, 02/17/2011 - 13:29
My boyfriends bank account was garnished, starting yesterday. It seems The Law Offices of Michael & Associates obtained a judgement against him. What I find strange is he was never served papers regarding a court date or the lawsuit.
He received a summons back in 2009 for Mann Bracken for the same debt, but quickly called and set up payment arrnagements with them before it reached a court. He paid them every month as agreed. Then that company went out of business and I guess sold off the debt to a company called ARSI who later changed their name to Michael and Associates.
It seems Michael and Associates never refiled the case but somehow updated all the information on the old case by Mann Bracken to their information for Michael and Associates. Is that possible and legal?
Also they never mailed any paperwork about reinserting/reinstating the case or served him with a new court date. So he didn't know about it. So they won a default judgement against him. I thought you had to be notified if a new court date comes up?
Also, I was under the impression they had to hold the case in the county the debtor resides in? It was originally opens in Ventura County. It was settled in Los Angeles which is not the county he resides in. It's the county Michael and Associates is in. How is that possible?
They say he has a few days to file some form but we're not sure which form and I'm not sure what to google to find it, any help would be appreciated.
He called ASRI (by mistake) this morning but they claim they still have the debt and levied his bank account. The same attorney is associated with both companies. They became combative, rude and abusive to force more payments from him. Mostly because the money they levied is being held by the Los Angeles Sheriff and they have nothing to show for it yet. The collector heard me in the background ask him a question and then began screaming at me through his phone stating "Let me talk to her! I bet she's the one that hangs up on me when I call!". Is she allowed to act that way towards someone not in her conversation and someone who is not authorized to speak about the account?
The bank also said this morning that in order to garnish more from his bank account the collector would have to go through the process of whit of garnishment and re-serve them again. Yet the collector threatened him with pay check garnishment and said since he wouldn't pay now she was just going to call his employer now and have them garnish him, can she threaten him with that once they have already completed their whit of garnishment and levied his bank account? Wouldn't that have to be a seperate process as well?
Any help is much appreciated.
I am not sure of the appropriate steps to file the paper work bu
I am not sure of the appropriate steps to file the paper work but you might be able to obtain the information from the court house. You should be able to over turn the garnishment by filing a motion for improper service through the court. You can provide proof of address and show they need to file in your current county and serve at your current address.
I would also record all of those calls. If you live in a two party state then make sure you record your notification to them that you are recording. If you live in a one party state then you can record without notification.
[SIZE=3]You might also consider sending them a debt validation letter. Generally you would not do this after you have been served but in this case it was improper service and I think it would be considered as never served. Basically you file in the first court to get the case thrown out and then you DV them before they can file the appropriate paper work in the new location. [/SIZE]
They were sent a DV letter early last year which they responded
They were sent a DV letter early last year which they responded basically saying they were not obligated to send anything and that DV letters were just a ploy by consumers to get bad CA's to run away.
Go straight to the courthouse that filed the judgement and file
Go straight to the courthouse that filed the judgement and file a motion to vacate the judgement due to improper service. Also, bring all previous correspondence with you and include in the motion, that you already DV'd them and THEY responded improperly. You may have an extra leg to stand on in that the sued(without proper service) after you sent the DV and the didnt not respond with the proper documents, not sure but if they bring it back to court you may be able to sue them. If your county have a legal aid service call them for help or see if you can find a lawyer that offers free consultations and bring all your paperwork with you. If you have their letter stating they dont have to provide you with anything, that may just put $$ in YOUR pocket.
Kitty, Did your boyfriend agree to a stipulated judgment when h
Kitty,
Did your boyfriend agree to a stipulated judgment when he was sued by Mann Bracken and began making payments?
If so, the process for default judgment when payments are missed is expedited and could explain some of what you are describing.
I do think so. Neither of us remember him responding to the summ
I do think so. Neither of us remember him responding to the summons from 2009 by Mann Brackett. He just called them automatically and set up a payment arrangement at which point I was told Mann Brackett was supposed to contact the court regarding the arrangement and "cancel" the lawsuit.
He just wants to begin payments to get this taken care of because it causing issues with his security clearance (hes a contractor IT for the Navy).
If he does set up payment arrnagement with the new agency, even though they got the default judgement, does he have to pay the entire judgement or can he haggle with them a bit?
Also, concerning the judgement: This is the info on what happe
Also, concerning the judgement:
This is the info on what happened.
Mann Brackett filed for the lawsuit in August 2009.
My boyfriend was served a summons in September 2009 and called Mann Brackette immediately and set up payment arrangements. My boyfriend was told by a legal advocate that it was Mann Brackett's responsibility to notify the court of the arrnagement agreed upon and that he didn't need to file a response.
He paid Mann Brackett as agreed till 12/15/09. That was his last payment.
In January 2010 he began getting letters in the mail stating that his debt with Mann Brackett had been transferred over to Michael and Associates. (never receiving any type of debt settlement letters).
He got letters dated Jan 21, 2010 that Michael and Associated were changing their named from ARSI to Michael and Associates? (again never getting any debt collection responses or letters).
In February 2010 he got a letter from them stating they couldn't tell if he was represented by counsel. (still not receiving debt letters or responses to his calls).
March 2nd 2010 he sent them a DV letter via CMRRR requesting a statement history and an agreement with the client authorizing them to collect on the debt. Also detailing the dates he attempted to call their office to obtain info on the debt.
He received a letter back from them stating the following "Regarding Debt Validation: Be advised per the FDCPA, verification of a debt involves nothing more than the debt collector confirming in writing that the amount being demanded is what the creditor is claiming is owed and that the debt collector is not required to keep detaled files of the alleged debt. Consistent with legislative history, verification is only intended to 'eliminate the... problem of debt collectors dunning the wrong person or attempting to collect debts which the consumer has already paid. there is no concomitant obligation to forward copies of bills, copy of a signed application, or other detailed evidence of the debt."
They also added the following "Regarding Personal Liability: The basic card member is personally responsible for the debt and when you hold, use or sign for the card you are agreeing to the terms and conditions."
He received something from Wells Fargo, his bank, with the following info:
A writ of execution Feb 14, 2011. Which they followed promptly and over drew his account for.
They also provided him the court documents with the following info:
That they got the Execution (Money Judgement) on 10.15.2010. Then it says Issue Date: DEC 01, 2010.
Its all very confusing to me. But it looks as if they got the judgement last year and didn't garnish until this month? He has received no info about the judgement till now, he hadn't received any notification of a new court date and it looks as if the attorney just replaced her info on the original lawsuit paperwork. We were told she could because its under the blanket of the creditor.