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Question: Does it matter if the collections attorney is lying about who they represent if I know they now DO own the debt? Am I right that they own the debt? Texas resident. . I have two accounts in collections from 2013/14 when I was unemployed. I let my fear and shame rule me, so I did not talk to my creditors at the time, and have since then been at a complete loss as to how to proceed. I am now determined to get ahead of these. My finances are now back to where I can make payments. I have also applied for a Lending Club loan in order to pay all at once, but I don't think I will be approved for that because one of these two accounts (smaller one, different collector) is showing up as a collections item in my credit report. I received a letter from Scott & Associates last week that states a Notice of Intent to File Civil Law Suit for the $5000 debt (the larger of the two I owe, each from different credit cards). I called the OC bank and they confirmed the amount and that the debt had been charged off and the phone number for the new contact person matches the phone number in the letter. This is a collections attorney. I called them this morning to feel out where things stand. Status: They say they represent the OC bank, and that all money I pay to the collections firm will go back to the OC. They have added $80 in court fees to the original total, because they have already printed the suit. Next step is that I will be served with a suit. They say I cannot slow this process and they cannot say how much time I have before the suit is processed and signed by a judge. They have offered that I can pay 57% lump settlement pay-off, or a monthly amount towards the total debt. I called the OC bank to try to clarify. They confirm that the account was charged off to Trak America. The phone number they gave me does match the phone number in the letter. BUT, they are very clear that they do not own the debt, Scott & Associates does not represent them, and that money given to the collections firm will not go back to the OC bank. Questions: Are they misrepresenting themselves? Does it matter? Note: my top priority is preventing this from going to court. I recognize my debt to the original creditor and want to pay my debt. An affordable lumpsum settlement would be great, but paying off the total in a legit way is fine. As long as it's legit. Here is the text of the letter: --- Creditor: [Original creditor, a bank] Total Amount Owed: $5xxx.xx Our Account Number: [their own acct # for me] Dear Mr./Ms [last name], As you know, this law firm represents [PC] in connection with the Account. We have attempted to contact you regarding a possible resolution: unfortunately, we have either been unable to speak with you or we have spoken with you, but were unable to reach an agreement. As a result, WE HAVE DECIDED TO FILE A LAWSUIT AGAINST YOU. If we do not hear from you, the next correspondence you should expect to receive from us is a copy of the lawsuit. THIS MATTER CAN BE SETTLED! PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE THIS MATTER! Contact us to discuss settlement options. Sincerely, Scott & Associates, P.C. This account is issued and administered by [OC], successor in interest to [XXXX Card Services] * Please be aware that we are a debt collector attempting to collect a debt. Any information which you provide to this firm may be used by us for that purpose.* ---

I was recently sent garnishment papers and I complied with them. My employer started taking out the 25% with my last check. This was on my Sept 23rd check. Today I get a call from my bank saying I have been garnished and they have taken all the money out of my account. I called the lawyer and asked why I was being double dipped on this garnishment. And also why they garnished my bank without telling me. Her exact words, We send out the garnishment to the bank and to my employer because we don't know which one will pay. They got my 25% already. I asked them to please contact my bank and release the funds back to my account. (she admitted it was their error on the recorded phone call) because what it is is the money is on hold at my bank. All I wanted them to do was call my bank and say never mind we are getting the money thru wage garnishment and they would not. They need a written statement from my bank MAILED to them stating what money was put aside, then they would review it and MAIL back a consent to release the funds back to me. All the while anything that comes in will cause my account to bounce and cost me $27 for each one. What if any action can I take against this lawyer for "stealing " from me in a sense? I'm complying with the garnishment now they will cause me further hardship, because I cannot even afford this garnishment as it is. Matt

1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Capital One Bank (USA), N.A. 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Michael J. Scott & Associates (Scott & Associates) 3. How much are you being sued for? $2427.17 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) Served Papers 6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) In Person 7. Was the service legal as required by your state? Process Service Requirements by State - Summons Complaint Yes 8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? No Previous Contact 9. What state and county do you live in? Denton County, Texas 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) April, 2014 (Don't know exact day, but it is within statue of limitations) 11. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out: Statute of Limitations on Debts 4 Years 12. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? You can find this by a) calling the court or looking it up online (many states have this information posted - when you find the online court site, search by case number or your name). Answer Due (Already responded, today July 18th, with a General Denial) 13. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) No, not that I can recall. 14. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? Note: if you haven't sent a debt validation request, don't bother doing this now - it's too late. No. 15. How long do you have to respond to the suit? (This should be in your paperwork). If you don't respond to the lawsuit notice you will lose automatically. In 99% of the cases, they will require you to answer the summons, and each point they are claiming. We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming. Did you receive an interrogatory (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit? Here is an example of what the summons/complaint may look like: Sued by a Debt Collector - Learn How to Fight Debt Lawsuits 14 days + Monday, Answer has already been filed with a response of General Denial. I didn't find this forum until late last night, unfortunately and was out of time. No questionnaire was given. Plaintiff's claim is breach of contract for a Mastercard account. My suit will be attached to the post. 16. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. No evidence was given other than the below on the original petition papers: Address, with an incorrect apartment number Last 4 digits of account number Account Opening Date Account Closed Date After browsing cases on these forums it appears that fighting an OC is a lot more difficult than a JDB, but I think I'd like to try at least. I've read a lot of TexasRocker's posts but I'm not quite sure where to go from here. My answer has been filed with the claim of General Denial, and I've sent a copy of it stamped by the Court Clerk, mailed as First Class, Certified, Return Receipt Requested. What is the best route to go when fighting an OC? Should I file a motion for discovery against the Plaintiff? I don't really have any information on this account. The account is no longer showing up on my credit report either, not sure what that means. I appreciate any help that's offered, thanks in advance!!!

I haven't seen this covered so I am going to start this new thread.... My daughter-in-law has an account that was opened with her parents when she was 16. Since she was a minor the bank required her parents to be on the account...that was @ 10 years ago. Her divorced parent's names are still on the account. Fast forward to last week, my DIL was paid and attempted to pay some of her bills and found that about 30% of the account had an "administrative freeze" put on it. The bank couldn't tell her what it was til the next day...then they told her it was someone collecting money from her mother. The mother told her it was Dish because she didn't return some equipment. The parent's have not deposited any money whatsoever in the account for at least 6 years....just my DIL's paychecks have gone into the account. Saturday, the DIL gets a letter from the bank with a copy of a Garnishment order for the mom from CAP1. The case was in a county where the DIL has never lived and the mom swears she never was served and that she never had a credit card. (I doubt the veracity of both statements). The garnishment order is for over $2500 and the bank added $125 to honor the order. So, where do we go from here?

I have a default money judgment against me from midland funding at civil court in NY, however I was never served because they used my old address. Now I've received a letter from my bank stating they are going to allow the plaintiff to garnish my bank account in 20 days. 1. What do I ask for in my order to show cause? 2. I was advised to file a stay enforcement. What is this? 3. When and how can I ask for proof from the plaintiff? Any advice will be appreciated.

I lost a judgement to Discover about two years ago for around $4,000 plus attorney fees, and nothing has ever come of it. I think I got one letter after the summary judgement asking to contact them to negotiate, and once last year saying you can use your tax refunds to negotiate a payment, and that's been it. No other contact. In the meantime, I've basically kept my bank account as low as possible, only putting money in to pay electronic transfers on my car insurance and stuff. I've been recently saving money though, and am collecting a nice pile of paychecks that I have yet to deposit or cash for fear that at some point they could place a levy on my bank account and take it. I've also been sued by a junk debt buyer in the meantime over a different debt, and have seriously been considering declaring bankruptcy. My question is, is there any safe alternatives for me to keep my money safe from levies besides storing cash? Which also isn't safe, since someone could rob me and I would be out of everything. I'm not sure the exact method in which someone who wins a judgment gets a levy. Do they just ask a bank if someone with my name has a bank account with them, the bank gives them the info, and then they place a levy on the account? I've heard of prepaid debit cards as a good alternative, but couldn't they do the same exact thing with one of these as well? I've read the only state in the US where bank levies are illegal is Delaware, so I wonder if I could safely open an out of state account and deposit money there. If anyone has any advice, it would be appreciated. I've been pretty much tortured and anxious over all this lately ('ve been up all night actually), because I'm finally starting to turn things around and save some money, but feel like I'm trapped because of this judgment and don't want to lose my entire savings from work. Thanks for the help.