Cohen & Slamowitz Freezes My Bank Account- Need Advice ASAP

[TradeStar28]

I had a nice suprise today...Went to Blockbuster to rent a movie...gave cashier my debit card for the $4.43 purchase. Card was declined. Gave them cash and went on my way.

I get back to office and called Citibank. They tell me the account has been frozen and gave me the phone # to Cohen & Slamowitz representing Midland.

OC was Cross Country Bank...Small limit CC I opened back in 1998 with the DOLA being 1998.

I live in NY...and supposedly I was served a judgement back in 2003. I never answered it because my financial situation was horrible. The judgement was for 850 bucks.

The weird thing is this - I got Midland deleted off account for over a year....its also past SOL.

I called Cohen & Slamowitz...butted heads with lady...and she said i owe 978 dollars which includes interest....I can well afford to pay this amount...I just wanna know what my best course of action is....

BTW- the judgement never showed up on ANY of my 3 CR's ever... If i pay these scums.......do i get this in writing to release bank account ? Should i pay in person with a money order from post office?

The frozen account has 200 dollars in it ...i am not that concerned about it....do i open a new bank account some where else right now?

Please, anyone...whats my best plan>? thank u

[FriendInCt]

I am no expert so I will let others answer you on the Judgement Part. But I would try to confirm to see if you do in fact have a jusgement against you at the Clerks Office. Also you might want to try and vacate the Judgement if there is one.

I and others that I know refuse to carry around Debit cards and carry only the cash we need. I would advise anyone not to fall for the bank scheme of Debit Cards because it is the agenda to have a cashless societry in the future.

[TradeStar28]

I am no expert so I will let others answer you on the Judgement Part. But I would try to confirm to see if you do in fact have a jusgement against you at the Clerks Office. Also you might want to try and vacate the Judgement if there is one.

I and others that I know refuse to carry around Debit cards and carry only the cash we need. I would advise anyone not to fall for the bank scheme of Debit Cards because it is the agenda to have a cashless societry in the future.

I will drive over to County Clerk office. I spoke to the clerks office by phone and said that you must retreive all information in person.

I would assume their would have to be a default judgement against me, otherwise how the heck can Midland/Cohen&Slamowitz get a bank account frozen without something backing up their claims?

[direred]

Some states permit a pre-judgment hold on assets. They are held by the bank pending litigation.

More likely, Cohen & Slamowitz is collecting on the judgment.

[TradeStar28]

Just wanna reiterate that there is NO judgement listed on any of my 3 CR's. I actually checked the 3 CR's on Tuesday just out of curiousity. Furthermore, the OC- Cross Country Bank, the JDB- Midland & the law firm now representing Midland (cohen & scumowitz) have no Derogs on my CR's whatsoever.

Should I pay the piper (Cohen & Scumowitz) just to get this non-reported lifted as well as the restraint on my checking account ? The total was like $950 ....and if I do agree, how should I go about this so NOTHING ever reaches my Credit reports in the future (now and forever) ?

[FriendInCt]

Pre-Judgement Hold. Sounds obsurd to me what State are you referring to?

[FriendInCt]

How did they freeze your Bank Account without an Execution?

Will the Bank show you the notice that they received to freeze your account?

[TradeStar28]

Pre-Judgement Hold. Sounds obsurd to me what State are you referring to?

I am from NY....

I dont know what a pre-judgement hold is....

I do know that Cohen & Scumowitz will accept a money order to pull off their dogs though...

As mentioned, Midland was awarded a default judgement supposedly in 2003....I dont remember even get a notice but I probably did and just tossed it out....

I came to these message boards in April of 2005 and proceeded to use the techniques here to go from a 500 FICO to a 760+ FICO across the board....I do NOT wanna mess up all the work i accomplished from the great info i used from here

[FriendInCt]

Class Action Lawsuit vs. Cohen and Slamowitz

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What is the name of your state?New York

Class Action Lawsuit vs. Cohen and Slamowitz

I am looking for others like me to participate in a class action lawsuit against Cohen & Slamowitz. I have been a victim of their outrageous tactics and I know there are others as well judging from the various postings out there.

In my research I have learned about the manuevers of Cohen and Slamowitz. These include:

-Procuring default judgments via improper service

-Illegal freezing of assets

-Harassing and abusive actions

-Pursuing erroneous and often out of date debts

Many (including myself) have been on the receiving end of these unlawful practices. I can attest to the anguish, aggravation, and "agita" caused by them. I know I am not alone.

If you are interested in participating in this class action lawsuit please

e-mail me with the details of your experience to:

fortunecookie18@yahoo.com

Let's redress these wrongs and seek justice together!

[FriendInCt]

New York Residents Claim Cohen & Slamowitz Engaged in Rampant and Abusive Collection Violations

DeFalco v Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP

A statewide class action has been filed in New York against collection specialists, Cohen & Slamowitz. The action is brought on behalf of all New York residents who received form type collection letters from the firm and/or who have been alleged victims of the firm’s alleged harassing collection tactics. The action is brought under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and seeks actual and statutory damages as well as injunctive and declaratory relief.

[TradeStar28]

Thanx for the info, you are indeed a Friend in Ct

I am looking for a resolve here ASAP. My time is worth more than the $950 at this stage of the game and its now my "busy season" for work.

Anyone else here with suggestions, much appreciated!

[FriendInCt]

Maybe they got a default judgement on you without properly serving you which you should be able to vacate. Sounds like they are big on improper service.

[TradeStar28]

Maybe they got a default judgement on you without properly serving you which you should be able to vacate. Sounds like they are big on improper service.

In New York, Its Nail & Mail....

I would guarantee that it was sent to my parents house even though I lived a few towns over. I honestly do not even remember the situation and as mentioned even if I was properly served, I probably woulda tosssed it in the trash can

[IHateCAs]

Well it seems like there's a good probability you were properly served and ignored it. Not sure what recourse you have here.

[LadynRed]

In NY you have ONE year to challenge a default judgment and challenging service is NOT as easy as some would lead you to believe. Your 1 year is up anyway.

The fact that this was never on your CR's is meaningless, has NO bearing whatsoever on the validity of the judgment.

Pay it and make sure you get a SATISFACTION OF JUDGMENT letter to take to the courthouse to be recorded.

[TradeStar28]

In NY you have ONE year to challenge a default judgment and challenging service is NOT as easy as some would lead you to believe. Your 1 year is up anyway.

The fact that this was never on your CR's is meaningless, has NO bearing whatsoever on the validity of the judgment.

Pay it and make sure you get a SATISFACTION OF JUDGMENT letter to take to the courthouse to be recorded.

Thank you LadyNRed....your posts have helped me tremendously in the past and I feel I want to protect my FICO since I put in over 100 hours to get it from 500 to 750+ as of Tuesday.

So basically, you are saying to put my tail between my legs and call up Cohen & Slamowitz, agree to pay the full amount owed (about $950). Just curious, what should the terms of my letter be with the full satisfaction of payment ? Like I said...I dont want this on my record out of no where, and I dont want it to show up any time from now till the end of my existance on Earth

[FriendInCt]

Did you at least check to make sure there is actually a judgement against you? I good man once said, I think it was Bruce Williams "Do not run your life by your credit score." but to each their own.

[LadynRed]

You CAN try to negotiate a settlement, it's not impossible, but they have the upper hand in that they don't have to settle and they CAN attach your assets if they want to try hard enough. They can garnish wages if they can't get a bank account.

Whatever you do, get the satisfaction letter from them.

[Recovering Attorney]

Just pay it and move on. At this point, it isn't worth fighting over. THe fact it wasn't on your CR means nothing as judgments are a hit and miss CR proposition.

[TradeStar28]

Just pay it and move on. At this point, it isn't worth fighting over. THe fact it wasn't on your CR means nothing as judgments are a hit and miss CR proposition.

I am guessing that is the best route. I will get a money order from the post office and squash this. Question is though - will there be any repurcussions or new reporting on my CR if there wasnt any at all right now ?

Also, what should I have this law firm put in writing to make sure this never comes up again as an issue? dismiss judgement with prejudice ?

[Recovering Attorney]

They are supposed to file a satisfaction of judgement. Make them give you a duplicate original.

[Jerky]

Slow down, not so fast, don't cough up the dough just yet. C & S are a bunch of mother f'rs.

They got 2 default judgements against me, one in 2003 and one in 2004, by "serving" me at an address I hadn't lived at in 3+ years. Exactly 1 year after they got the first one they seized my bank account for $3k. I had no choice but to pay at the time, I only wish I knew then what I know now.

One year after that they seized my account again for the other judgement, but I wasn't gonna go along so easily this time.

I filed a motion to vacate the judgement pro se, just over 2 years after they received it. They tried to fight it with the one year clause, but there are exceptions to that. In the end the judge ruled against them, stating that the court did not have jurisdiction over me because of the improper service.

They filed suit against me 4 months later, in which I was successful at beating them off again.

I tried to get the other judgement vacated too, to get it off my CR, but the court ruled that by paying I essentially plead guilty.

Once you get this all cleared up, the bank will be more than happy to lift the freeze on your account for a nominal legal/processing fee. Mine was $90 + $70 for the two purchases that posted after the freeze resulting in NSF.

So to sum things up-

1. Don't pay just yet

2. You CAN get a judgement vacated after 1 year in NY

3. Cohen & Slamowitz ARE scumbags

[Jerky]

New York Residents Claim Cohen & Slamowitz Engaged in Rampant and Abusive Collection Violations

DeFalco v Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP

A statewide class action has been filed in New York against collection specialists, Cohen & Slamowitz. The action is brought on behalf of all New York residents who received form type collection letters from the firm and/or who have been alleged victims of the firm’s alleged harassing collection tactics. The action is brought under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and seeks actual and statutory damages as well as injunctive and declaratory relief.

Have you actually consulted a lawyer about going through with this or are you just trying to mustar up support?

[NuFoxy]

Well I would like to get some more information regarding C&S. I had a post earlier last year re: them and I have a court date next week to answer. I sent them a DV and I received a package that contained copies of the statements and charges, however, I did not receive a copy of the contract directly from them. The OC is Crap One and they are listed on the post card I received from the courts. Any advice, suggestions, links, preparations would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!!