Please help me! I don't know what to do!

I should mention that I've never talked to anyone from Hanna & Associates on the phone, only via mail.

I had an attorney when I was being harassed from another collection agency. He told me that the letter I received back as "validation" from H&A was legit and refused to help me again. He also told me that unless they serve me the papers personally, they couldn't take me to court.

What am I supposed to do here? Do I contact the courthouse? Do I need to contact Hanna & Associates? I'm totally opposed to that since I know they are bottomfeeders and will do anything they can to incriminate me and try to force me into admitting that I owe the debt. How can they send the papers to my parents' house when I've been communicating with H&A through the mail and they HAVE my correct address?

If they don't serve you in person, there won't be a court date. If they HAVE your correct address, they'll be around to serve you eventually. What they sent you was NOT proper validation. It would be in your best interest to GO to court and have the thing thrown out. You can ask for all kinds of validation during the discovery process that they likely won't be able to produce and then motion to have the case dismissed with predjudice.

hmm somehow my reply didn't take,but i basically echo everything ohiogal said,but the rules for service vary state to state.so do check with your court clerk to confirm that this"supposed service"was just that,or if there really is a court date.then follow ohiogal's stellar advice.

Thank you, Paul and OhioGal. I think the thing that bothers me most about this whole scenario is that I am a very honest person. I don't do things underhanded and I don't spend outside of my means because I can't afford to live like that. I had two credit cards, one very low limit Capital One card and a gas card. Besides my school loans, that's all I had. If I never had lost my job, I never would have been in this situation. These companies work so hard to make you feel so badly about yourself and make you feel like a criminal.

I realize they don't know me and they have plenty of people who ARE negligent with their debts. Companies like H&A are truly just bullies.

I guess that if I get served I will just take my chances in the local court. Paul, I know that the service was legit. My mother said it was a sheriff from our county law enforcement. When she told him I hadn't lived there in four years, he told me to contact the credit card company. When I called the credit card company, they said they couldn't help me and referred me back to the collection agency. She said that Capital One no longer has my account. I specifically asked her if that meant that H&A owned the account and she said jumped around the question and said she didn't have the information I needed, I would have to contact them.

I guess as my mother said this is just another one of life's inconveniences.

hang on a second here, this is wrong.

First, do NOT believe or rely on the concept of "if they know your correct address, they will be around to serve you eventually". On the same note, do not believe that "there can be no court date unless you are personally served". Both of those are incorrect. Nearly every jurisdiction in the country allows for other means of service. They would only need to contact the court and tell them that they tried to have you served at the address on file....and the courts will often times allow service by publication in a local newspaper or other means. Here's the thing--this is a ploy by Hanna to try to "have you served" without actually having you served. Frankly, I am surprised that no one else has mentioned this so far....bottom feeders like Hanna do this so that they can sue you without the necessary proof, and since you didnt actually know about it, you were not there to contest it. This is how bottom feeders get so many default judgments, folks!!

Is your mom's address in the same county where you live now? Sounds like it, but wanted to make sure. What you need to do ASAP is check the court clerk's office where you live, and make sure they didnt already claim that you have been properly served. The really messed up part of this is that you can prove that they knew what address to find you at, and yet they still tried to serve you at what they obviously knew to be an old address. If it were me, I would be bringing this up to the court--by itself it is not enough to get the case thrown out, but by showing the judge that these guys are playing illegal games like this, it could help to set the stage for getting this dismissed. When you check with the court clerks office, be sure to find out who is actually listed as the plaintiff.

great advice skydiver as always my bad,but in COOK COUNTY IL where i reside i must be served by the sheriff personally.now they do three attempts at service then the supposed case moves forward.however alot of states do allow for proxy service,service by mail,even publication.again my bad on the service issue.

Sky, you're brilliant. It never even occurred to me that they might be playing some kind of game.