Settlement after a Default Judgement
Date: Sun, 03/20/2011 - 14:05
It was then picked up by ARSI (Michael and Associates). He received paperwork regarding the transferr over to Michael and Associates. He began calling them and leaving voicemails asking them to call him back about the debt - he never received a call back.
We DV'ed Michael and Associates via CMRRR. They responded with some bogus answer about how they didn't have to provide him with any information and that DV's were just a ploy used to get bad debt collectors to go away and if he wished to view his statements with AMEX he could logon to the website etc. He never heard another word from them and received no other letters.
One day his bank account had a levy put on it. Then he found out that Michael and Associates had re-entered the lawsuit paperwork, he was never notified of a new court date. They ended up with a default judgement and then put the levy on his account (they obtained his account info from the checks he used to pay Mann Brackett).
He then called them to talk about a payment arrnagement. They argued that they had been calling his house (his family home - not his personal number which was given to Mann Brackett) to get a hold of him but they never got through to him. When he asked why he never received a debt settlement letter from them or any type of letter indicating he could settle the debt they just got nasty and screamed at him over the phone and verbally abused him (the collector even tried to scream at me through the phone because I was asking him to ask certain questions). He asked if he could set up payments she said he could and he asked how much and she refused to give him an answer after stating he could set up whatever he liked. So he said "so I could pay you $100 a month till it's settled" at which she replied no that wouldn't be acceptable and threatened him with garnishment.. After 10 minutes of her verbally abusing him and not giving him an answer as to what payment options WERE available she hung up on him.
We wrote a letter to them asking, politely, if they could find a way to work with him and that he could manage $400 a month, beggining April 1st, as he was paying off other collectors and after those agreements were completed he could manage to pay them more until the debt was settled.
Thus far they have failed to respond to him.
We found out from the bank that they can't continue to levy him with out resubmitting paperwork and going through the whole legal process again (which also stands for garnishing his paycheck). We also found out that per California Law they can only garnish about 10% from his paycheck which is still only about $400.
Because they have not responded to the payment proposal what other avenues should he explore? What options are available to him?
He needs to goto the court and file papers to get the judgment o
He needs to goto the court and file papers to get the judgment overturned since there is no proof of service that they contacted you with the new suit. Also you need to counter sue them for continued collection activity, that response to the DV letter was total and complete BS.
I am wondering if Mann Brakken originally got the judgment....th
I am wondering if Mann Brakken originally got the judgment....the OP doesnt say whether he answered the summons or went to court. My thinking is Mann Brakken went ahead and got the judgment. There is no mention that the court case was ever dropped. Thus, my thinking is AMEX had their judgment....and they would not have refile anything when they placed the account with the new agency.
However, that response is a violation of the FDCPA.....I would go after them on those grounds alone.
What's bizarre is... he's now obtained some information from var
What's bizarre is... he's now obtained some information from various other resources. Meaning the writ of execution that was served to the bank (the bank gave him a copy) and the Sherrif's office provided him copies of what they received as well.
Mann Brackett filed in August 2009. He set up the payment arrangement with them and began paying September 2009 through December 2009. He was informed by a legal aid that it was Mann Brackett's responsibility to inform the courts of the settlement agreement that was reached before the court date. So he didn't file any type of response. In December 2009 he got a letter from ARSI (Michael and Associates) stating they were taking over for Mann Brackett and he received some papers from the court pertained to the change in attorney. That's when he DV'ed ARSI and got that bogus answer from them. Never heard from them again.
I checked the case number with the courts and it shows a lot of activity going on with the case through 2010 - yet he was never notified of any of the activity by Michael and Associate or even the courts. Even activity where Michael and Associates failed to file their paperwork in the allotted time.
I really want to go after them for the violation plus the abuse from when he called the collector.
Should I send them a follow up letter anyways?
I checked the proceedings with the judgement. It seems that Mann
I checked the proceedings with the judgement. It seems that Mann Brackett/AMEX never filed for the dismissal once the payment arrangement was set up and being paid on.
It also seems that Michael and Associates failed to get all of their paperwork filed in a timely manner and the motion was thrown out but then they would re-enter.
My boyfriend doesn't have the money to pay legal fee's or a lawyer right now - so he's trying to do mostly everything on his own.
So thank you for all the help (as usual :D )
Was this payment arrangement in writing? If not they can and li
Was this payment arrangement in writing? If not they can and likely will claim that no such agreement was ever made. Your BF should contact the court, perhaps send a letter to the judge, explaining that an agreement was made and they violated said agreement by not dismissing the suit as was agreed upon. Plus, you never got any papers at all and had to look up the suit to even see what all has happened and that he would like a chance to defend himself properly.