Being sued by Howard Lee Schiff
Date: Wed, 05/16/2012 - 16:28
I received a letter from small claims court. It has the Plaintiff as Midland Funding being represented by Howard Lee Schiff Law office.
Up until this point I have received a collection letter from another collection agency and I was never notified from Midland that they now hold my account. I also never received any thing from the law office that they have my account or they were intending to sue me for the balance.
I live in Massachusetts. Doesn't the collection agency need to send me something stating that they now hold my debt and that they intend to sue me for the balance if I do not pay it?
I didn't even have an opportunity to setup a payment plan or anything.
Thanks
Ask the collection agency to validate the debt in writing. If th
Ask the collection agency to validate the debt in writing. If they don???t give any reply, then forward them a Cease and Desist letter.
You need to appear in court on the given date and tell the judge
You need to appear in court on the given date and tell the judge that you were not informed through any medium of Midland's intent to collect on the debt or even of the fact that Midland owned the debt. The judge will possibly vacate the case in case Midland can't come up with proof to show that they tried to contact you before filing in court.
spaceblank, stop posting here. I've had enough of your ridiculo
spaceblank, stop posting here. I've had enough of your ridiculous posts. The person has already received documentation from a court--it is no longer appropriate to advise sending a DV request!!!!! HOW MANY MORE TIMES DO YOU NEED TO BE TOLD THIS BEFORE YOU WILL STOP TELLING PEOPLE HERE TO DO IT????
To the OP, you need to verify with that court that this is real. Is the court in the county where you reside? If not, then you have grounds for dismissal due to improper venue. Please check into this and get back to us....and whatever you do, do not take the advice of spaceblank....it will get you nowhere.
Thank you all for your responses. Yes this is a real small cl
Thank you all for your responses.
Yes this is a real small claims case. It is located in my county where I live.
It's just strange that I was not notified at all that Midland held my debt and that they were intending to take me to court for it.
Quote:You need to appear in court on the given date and tell the
Quote:
You need to appear in court on the given date and tell the judge that you were not informed through any medium of Midland's intent to collect on the debt or even of the fact that Midland owned the debt. The judge will possibly vacate the case in case Midland can't come up with proof to show that they tried to contact you before filing in court. |
Geez, Nathaniel, that advice is as bad as what spaceblank posted. There is NO LAW that says they must contact you before suing you. They are well within their legal rights to file suit as a first collection attempt. Why would the judge throw the case out when they have not violated any law in filing the suit before contacting the OP??
Guys, I've had more than enough. I am fine with people posting here. But this is way out of hand!!! If you want to post a comment, take a moment and research it first. We are NOT HERE to provide BAD ADVICE that will get people sued or make them lose their case.
To the OP, I will be back on later today to talk to you about some options. Whatever you do, dont try to follow ignorant advice like those. If you do, you will end up losing your case completely.
questions
i have a question as this is midland,and they don't go about things in a straight up fashion.
you said this is real.okay now what is the date on the notice/letter?
the reason i ask is because while service by mail is legal in some states the timeframe to respond is 20-30 days depending on your venue no matter what service is used,and again as this is midland i don't trust them at all.skydiver knows his onions on matters like this,and he will give great advice,but the date on the notice/letter is key.
The statement of small claim and notice trial letter states 4/30
The statement of small claim and notice trial letter states 4/30/12 and the cover letter from the courts is dated 5/3/12
Says my court date is 7/10/12
okay
the date on the notice says 7/10 court date so now this place is basically trying to settle before the court date typical.now i will PM skydiver and he can respond as he can advise further from here.
Here's a thought....I've never had to deal with that "attorney"
Here's a thought....I've never had to deal with that "attorney" before, but I am finding a lot of people on the web saying that this isnt an attorney's office at all. Need to check that one out....anyways, be VERY careful when dealing with Mass. small claims courts for debt collection issues.....read this article--the whole thing. I know its long but you really need to be prepared.
Look at the top of that page, you will see on the right a bunch of page numbers and parts 1, 3, and 4....read them all. This will go a long way to get you prepared for the nonsense that is your state's small claims court.