Wage Attachment on Charged off account

[jerzigurl77]

What is the name of your state? NJ



In 1996, a creditor charged off an account for roughly 1000.00. It was for kitchen products. My now ex husband and I purchased these right before we were married. Long story short, they sucked and he ended up sending them back. It's been on my credit forever. Now, some law firm contacts me and tells me that they've secured a wage attachment against me. They want me to either pay off the amount in full or Western Union them 100.00 and then send another 150 a month until it's paid.

Can they do that? I've told them that the merchandise was returned. They say they have no proof of that. When it was returned in 1997 - the company sent a driver over to pick it up. That was the last we ever heard of it and I've been arguing to get this off my credit for years.

What can I do?

 

[Ladynred]

This happened in 1996 ? Do you have ANYTHING that shows the stuff was returned ? That would be most helpful.

Anything from 1996 should be dropping OFF your credit report this year.

The SOL for this kind of thing in NJ is SIX years, unless there was some kind of written contract for the purchase. HOW were these things purchased ?

No one can garnish anything without FIRST suing you and winning a judgment against you. Have you ever been served a summons ?? If not, what you need to do ASAP is call the courthouse and find out if there's anything there for judgments or lawsuits. If so, then get a copy of the case file, which will contain a proof of service form. That will tell you when, where, how, and to whom a summons was served.

If there is no lawsuit and no judgments, then his threats of garnishment are all hogwash - and illegal !!

IF the SOL comes into play (assuming there is no judgment already), then the fact that its already expired would allow you to send this lawyer a cease and desist letter as the debt is time-barred and they cannot legally sue you.

 

[jerzigurl77]

I've searched high and low and can't find a thing in my filing cabinet regarding this issue. It's not surprising - since this is from 96.

So, if I'm correct, the SOL comes in to play at the end of this current year?

The items were purchased from some sales man who came around our neighborhood. It was so much down and then so much a month until the balance was paid. This was fine until we found out the merchandise was cruddy.

 

[Ladynred]

Ok. What you describe constitutes a written contract. I re-checked the SOL on written contracts for NJ and it is still SIX years ! This is good. No matter WHEN in 1996 this stuff was returned and you stopped paying, that means the SOL has, indeed EXPIRED in 2002 !

If there is NO judgment already out there, and you do need to call the courthouse to confirm this first, then its time to send this lawyer a cease and desist letter. The debt is time-barred and this is an absolute defense against this thing. If there's no judgment, they cannot now legally sue you. If they did, you could defeat them using the SOL as your defense.

If you have no receipts, statements or anything, then you need to go to your credit report. What is there for 'date of last activity' (will show on Experian) ?? If you don't have that, you can use 2 other things. The 'come-off' date - you subtract 7 years + 30 days to get the date of last payment. The other is the charge-off date - take that date and subtract 180 days to get the date of last activity (dola). Once you have that calculated, you can be sure of the SOL expiration for proof in court should you need it.

An excellent expired SOL C&D letter is found here:
http://community-2.webtv.net/Y-Chat/WhyChatsCredit/page3.html

The NJ statute you need to complete the letter is - just quote the code number
:
"12A:3-118. Statute of limitations
a. Except as provided in subsection e. of this section, an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay a note payable at a definite time must be commenced within six years after the due date or dates stated in the note or, if a due date is accelerated, within six years after the accelerated due date. "

 

[jerzigurl77]

Ok, I checked with the court house. 2 things. First of all, the docket number this collection agency gave me - the one they state proves they have gone to court and had a judge give them the ok to garnish my wages - refers to a case that doesn't even belong to me! It's for some lady I've never heard of vs. Capitol One. Second, the court clerk ran my name and maiden name - neither come up with any judgements filed. So, this guy is full of BS.

The other major thing is that the last activity showed up as 1996, so the SOL is up and I'm sending them a cease & desist letter today.

THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO much for all of your help. And to think - they had me so freaked out I was going to pay this just to avoid them attaching my wages.... and I already gave them back their product.

Thanks again!

 

[kevinss]

One more thing.. since you're already on a roll...
In NJ, you may tape phone calls without the consent of the other party. If you can afford one, grab a tape recorder immediately (one with a phone attachment if you can.) If they call back after receiving your C&D letter, tape the calls. Pretend to be scared and vulnerable (this is what they get off on.) They will almost certainly say many things that are illegal per the FDCPA.
Also, you may want to include the fact that they threatened you with an illegal action (garnishing wages), and if you hear ANYTHING else from them, you will pursue legal action immediately. Don't let him know that you didn't already tape his previous call(s).
If there's one thing that pisses me off above all else, it's scumbags who PATRONIZE educated consumers such as yourself who thought to ask for the case number, by giving you a FALSE case number. That's an utter insult to your intelligence.
Best of luck! Let us know how this plays out.. should be interesting. This guy doesn't seem to "get" the fact that you're able to handle this matter.

 

[Ladynred]

Yep... collection agencies, even those operating under the names of 'law firms' LIE, LIE, LIE ! Chances are he either pulled a case number out of the air and it happened to hit on an actual case, or he has some database for public records and just pulled on to use on you ! I hate lying scumbags !!

Anway, DO let us know how this turns out He has already racked up several FDCPA violations which you could sue HIM for.. at $1000 plus damages

 

[jerzigurl77]

Well, I contacted the supposed "law firm" that sent me this letter. He started spouting off a bunch of statues that allowed him to send me the information. I asked him if I could verify the docket number again with him and he agreed. When he confirmed the number I had was right, I told him that I checked with the County court and they have that file number associated with someone other than myself. On top of that, they have no file what so ever in my name for the past 3 years! On that note, he said that he didn't have my file in front of me, but he would have his receptionist pull the file and mail me a copy of the judgement that they obtained in court. I told him that it would be a good idea seeing as though the court they supposedly filed it in doesn't even have record of it. He then said he would call me back in a few minutes with the correct docket number. I told him that while he was doing that, I was preparing the cease and desist letter for his "firm" and they'd have it in a few days.

Needless to say, I haven't heard a word from him since then.

I'll keep you posted!

 

[kevinss]

See what happens when you're prepared? LOL
Catch the suckers in a lie and they don't know what to do. Intimidation works both ways.
Bet ya $1000 he contacts you again and says that the files must have gotten crossed somehow.. clerical error, etc. He'll then say it's important that you pay anyway so this doesn't happen to you!!!
haha.

 

[Ladynred]

ROFL !! Way to go !

Just out of curiosity, what kinds of statutes was he spouting ? What was the relevance ?

Its tooooo funny when you see what happens when you stand up to a BULLY.. they haven't a clue what to do but sputter and rave nonsense at someone they THINK they can put one over on !!