I was flat out lied to by the attorney for a credit card company who brought a small claims suit against me. I disputed the debt (and still do even after they garnished my wages) but they intimidated me into a payment arrangement then lied to me and said there was no court date anymore since I "settled". I was skeptical and called the clerk of court's office only to find out they lied and I did need to show up. I showed up for the court date, even as I argued that this court had no jurisdiction over me because I never lived in that county but no-one even the clerk's office would listen to me and I was denied the right to go before a judge. I was only given an opportunity to talk to the attorney for the credit card company and sign papers saying we had a payment arrangement. Long story short, I made 1 of 2 payments then lost my job.I called them immediately to tell them I would make the 2nd and final payment 2-3 weeks late because I had to wait for a final check. They told me okay, but unbeknownst to me,they went back to court without me and got a default judgement for $1600 on what would have been a $709 payment. iI never got notice of the court hearing nor did I ever get a copy of the judgement. I didn't find out about it until I got a wage garnishment notice from my new employer 2 1/2 years later....VERY humiliating! I also might add 2 things. My employer got the wage garnishment notice a week before I did so I couldn't even dispute it before my employer was involved. Second, I called the clerk of court's office in that county (3 hours from my home) and argued that you can't go to court without giving me a chance to defend myself and I shouldn't be forced to drive 3 hours each way to a county I never lived in. I was told by the clerk's office that they can file it wherever they want and I have to show up. I asked "So if they wanted to file this in California to be jerks you're telling me I'd have to get on a plane and fly to California to defend a $709 lawsuit???" She said "Yes." THAT HAS TO CHANGE.
Yes. I fell onto hard times during a divorce and found out a few years ago that my dad (whom I haven't lived with for 20+ years) receives so many debt collection calls for me every day he quit answering his home phone. This is unacceptable. We cannot even figure out how they got his phone number because I never lived at that address at any point while I had those credit cards and he never co-signed any loans or credit cards with me. The only connection we can come up with is that my stepmom co-signed a short term furniture loan for me 20 years ago when I was just out of college and that maybe somehow her name is tied to my credit report in some way--although I've never seen it on my credit reports. This is now 6 years after I went through my divorce and he told me a few months ago he still gets several calls per week for me from debt collectors. Personally, I don't think they should be allowed to call ANY number for more than 3 months without successful contact with the debtor. Clearly, they don't have proof they've got the right number and all they're doing by calling the same unverified number for 6 years is harrassing an innocent party.
I guess I should also have clarified in my previous comment that I have made attempts to deal with creditors directly if I know who they are and who they claim to be representing but my personal perception is they PREFER to continue contacting 3rd parties because they hope I'll just pay them to avoid the public humiliation. And in regards to a comment I read here that creditors can call a 3rd party again if they have a reasonable belief that the person knows how to contact the debtor, I disagree with that entirely. First of all, I'm not aware of any law that compels a 3rd party to provide current contact information for a debtor, so even if they do know where that debtor is, they don't deserve to be harassed daily for months or years as punishment for not offering up that information. Many people don't want to be involved and no law that I know of says they have to if they aren't a party to the debt. Secondly, there is no clear and concise way I know of that a creditor can prove what was a reasonable belief. That this person is a parent of the debtor??? My in-laws have no idea how to reach my sister-in-law because she wants it that way. They haven't spoken in 3 years and I don't see that changing. You can't assume that certain relatives MUST know where a debtor is.
Dazed and Abused
1
I was flat out lied to by the attorney for a credit card company who brought a small claims suit against me. I disputed the debt (and still do even after they garnished my wages) but they intimidated me into a payment arrangement then lied to me and said there was no court date anymore since I "settled". I was skeptical and called the clerk of court's office only to find out they lied and I did need to show up. I showed up for the court date, even as I argued that this court had no jurisdiction over me because I never lived in that county but no-one even the clerk's office would listen to me and I was denied the right to go before a judge. I was only given an opportunity to talk to the attorney for the credit card company and sign papers saying we had a payment arrangement. Long story short, I made 1 of 2 payments then lost my job.I called them immediately to tell them I would make the 2nd and final payment 2-3 weeks late because I had to wait for a final check. They told me okay, but unbeknownst to me,they went back to court without me and got a default judgement for $1600 on what would have been a $709 payment. iI never got notice of the court hearing nor did I ever get a copy of the judgement. I didn't find out about it until I got a wage garnishment notice from my new employer 2 1/2 years later....VERY humiliating! I also might add 2 things. My employer got the wage garnishment notice a week before I did so I couldn't even dispute it before my employer was involved. Second, I called the clerk of court's office in that county (3 hours from my home) and argued that you can't go to court without giving me a chance to defend myself and I shouldn't be forced to drive 3 hours each way to a county I never lived in. I was told by the clerk's office that they can file it wherever they want and I have to show up. I asked "So if they wanted to file this in California to be jerks you're telling me I'd have to get on a plane and fly to California to defend a $709 lawsuit???" She said "Yes." THAT HAS TO CHANGE.
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Dazed and Abused
2
Yes. I fell onto hard times during a divorce and found out a few years ago that my dad (whom I haven't lived with for 20+ years) receives so many debt collection calls for me every day he quit answering his home phone. This is unacceptable. We cannot even figure out how they got his phone number because I never lived at that address at any point while I had those credit cards and he never co-signed any loans or credit cards with me. The only connection we can come up with is that my stepmom co-signed a short term furniture loan for me 20 years ago when I was just out of college and that maybe somehow her name is tied to my credit report in some way--although I've never seen it on my credit reports. This is now 6 years after I went through my divorce and he told me a few months ago he still gets several calls per week for me from debt collectors. Personally, I don't think they should be allowed to call ANY number for more than 3 months without successful contact with the debtor. Clearly, they don't have proof they've got the right number and all they're doing by calling the same unverified number for 6 years is harrassing an innocent party.
View this comment in the discussion thread
Dazed and Abused
3
I guess I should also have clarified in my previous comment that I have made attempts to deal with creditors directly if I know who they are and who they claim to be representing but my personal perception is they PREFER to continue contacting 3rd parties because they hope I'll just pay them to avoid the public humiliation. And in regards to a comment I read here that creditors can call a 3rd party again if they have a reasonable belief that the person knows how to contact the debtor, I disagree with that entirely. First of all, I'm not aware of any law that compels a 3rd party to provide current contact information for a debtor, so even if they do know where that debtor is, they don't deserve to be harassed daily for months or years as punishment for not offering up that information. Many people don't want to be involved and no law that I know of says they have to if they aren't a party to the debt. Secondly, there is no clear and concise way I know of that a creditor can prove what was a reasonable belief. That this person is a parent of the debtor??? My in-laws have no idea how to reach my sister-in-law because she wants it that way. They haven't spoken in 3 years and I don't see that changing. You can't assume that certain relatives MUST know where a debtor is.
View this comment in the discussion thread