Updated info

[treehugger1]

I have not posted for a bit. I've been busy. I recently had three dafault judgments entered against me. They occurred within 24 hours of each other. One of the creditors is close to my county and had a garnishment writ served within 48 hours. This creditor holds two separate judgments. No big deal, if you have followed my story these past few years. The other creditor is a national CC and I was sued by an out-of-state (but in-state registered BAR member) attorney on behalf of the plaintiff.

I expect my employer to notify me of a second writ within a few days. the writs here last 90 days, and a judgment creditor cannot have more than one wage garnishment writ at a time. I imagine that if the CC attorney gets a writ within the next few days, then they will only see 10 - 20 days of garnished wages. By then, the more local creditor will have filed a new writ (after their first 90 day writ expires,) and will be back at the head of the line.

I suppose I will soon see a debtor interrogatory in the mail. In my state these can be served by process server or via return-receipt mail. If I fail to reply, then I can receive a summons directly from the court requiring me to attend a hearing. I may wait for this to happen. I would definitely attend this hearing, since failure to attend a court-ordered appearance is contempt.

I have nothing to hide (no assets, only wages.) I already filed a declaration of exempt assets and copy of my base salary, along with copies of my IRS bill.

My new question is this. Are attorneys who sue for many national credit card companies paid by the hour, or do they receive a certain percentage of the collections? Note: This account never left the OC. The OC is the plaintiff. If the attorney is working on a percentage, then it may take them a long, long time to be first-in-line for wage garnishment. Or, is this one of those times when the attorney firm had been paid, and now the OC will sell/assign the judgment to a collection agency or JDB? Ideas? Anyone...? Or...?

[frogger]

Are you certain that it's the original creditor, or did it say something like:

Dewey A. Cheetum, attorney, assignee for Stupid CreditCard Company.

?

[treehugger1]

It's pretty clear that Citi is the plaintiff. And, Citi appears to be very good at furnishing their attornies plenty of information; valid or not.

[albacore44]

Here in Ca. Citi seems to use a firm from n. Ca. called Hunt and Henriques. I see cases by the hundreds listed on my court docket. Seems like they get a lot of default judgements.

[catleg]

My opinion is that they work on a fee basis, at least initially. The outside counsel that handles Citi cards in NJ sued us 'x' separate times for 'x accounts, Chase (using in house counsel) sued us once for multiple accounts, so you can probably figure their compensation is based on # of cases either directly or through billable hours. It's possible they may also get a percentage of recovery as well. Probably will be tough to find out this info unless you can find an insider who blabs somewhere on the internet about it.

[treehugger1]

Thanks for the replies. I need to keep in mind that Citi "owns" the judgment, not the legal firm. I can't imagine that the legal firm wants to keep throwing money after a insolvent, no-asset fish like me. Perhaps the legal firm will now step away and citi has to decide how they will proceed.

In my county, Citi always uses the same law firm from 300 miles away in Seattle. Their motions are pretty much "form letter" style, but its clear that nobody ever calls them after the fact. Perhaps i should rock the boat, and maybe get them to drive down here and represent their client. I have another 10 days to respond to their motion for judgment as it has to follow the same rules of civil procedure that any other motion requires. The file shows "closed," but perhaps the clerks just note it as such since NOONE ever files an opposing argument. I think a lot of poeple don;t understand that in these cases the legal firm is an intermediary. The law firm has to communicate with their client.

I'm learning that the legal procedures here in Oregon are there for anyone to make use of, and the judge in this case appears to have a secret affinity for pro-per defendants.

The other issue here is that the filing of a writ for wage garnishment is not filed with the court. There is no way to know whether or not they have served a writ on my employer until my employer notifies me. This is not really that big of a deal since I have a new garnishment against me that will last 90 days, and I only get paid once per month. Plenty of time to push some buttons once I figure out where everyone stands.

[Worried Mom]

Treehugger, what ever happened to your student loan situation? Were you able to get them to garnish you for repayment? I was wondering if they are included in your current garnishment.

[treehugger1]

Chuckle, chuckle! I received an official notice of default that now includes some additional collection costs on top of the amount owed. This wasn't as much as others have claimed. I also realize form speaking to some representatives at the dept. of education that I may never see a garnishment. I think in some cases they must just say, "screw it." I call the servicer once a week and keep them informed that I WANT them to move toward garnishment. I have informed them I will not pay voluntarily. My SL's are now 300+ days overdue. Still, they have not moved toward the 15% garnishment. Bunch of knuckleheads. I think the servicer is attempting to do everything possible in order to avoid sending the loans to the department of education. Until I see the garnishment, I have decided to ignore the SL folks. I owe the IRS about $6K and am on a long-term payment plan with the IRS. The IRS gets any tax refund until my tax debt is paid. Since I seldom get a tax refund, the SL folks can't even get their hands on any possible refund.

Not declaring a BK 13 has been hard work these past 3+ years. LOL BK is still on the radar, but is not a priority.

[frogger]

Sounds like the attorney is using the "shotgun approach" to collections. He is counting on the fact that 90% + of the people served will not show up to court, therefore a default judgement.

Show up. You will most likely get a chance to talk to the attorney before the case in order to see if anything can be worked out. At that time, you can advise him if your situation and see what goes.

If he's being paid by the hour (doubtful), then he'll enjoy going after you. If he's being paid by the case/amount collected (probably), he's probably going to realize that he's fishing in an empty pond.

[treehugger1]

Frogger, there is already a judgment, and I am preparing a motion to request relief from the judgment based on what I believe is "misrepresentation." The misrepresentation is related to what I believe is a false claim made on an affidavit from the original creditor. I need to file two motions: 1) a motion for relief and 2) a motion/pleading stating my claim of misrepresentation. I'll cite any appropriate federal and state laws, and appropriate rules of procedure. In addition, I'll cite any recent court results related to the use of affidavits as legal instruments of support for plaintiffs' claims. I'll let the local circuit court judge decide on my motions. I'm learning that the worst action is no action. Based on the judge's interpretation and decision, I might be able to appeal to a higher court.

The following is part of Rule 71 from my state rules of civil procedure:

B Mistakes; inadvertence; excusable neglect; newly discovered evidence, etc.

B(1) By motion. On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or such party’s legal representative from a judgment for the following reasons: (a) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (b) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under Rule 64 F; (c) fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; (d) the judgment is void; or (e) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application. A motion for reasons (a), (b), and (c) shall be accompanied by a pleading or motion under Rule 21 A which contains an assertion of a claim or defense. The motion shall be made within a reasonable time, and for reasons (a), (b), and (c) not more than one year after receipt of notice by the moving party of the judgment. A copy of a motion filed within one year after the entry of the judgment shall be served on all parties as provided in Rule 9 B, and all other motions filed under this rule shall be served as provided in Rule 7. A motion under this section does not affect the finality of a judgment or suspend its operation.

[frogger]

Frogger, there is already a judgment, and I am preparing a motion to request relief from the judgment based on what I believe is "misrepresentation." The misrepresentation is related to what I believe is a false claim made on an affidavit from the original creditor.

Sorry, I missed the part about there already being a judgment.

One key factor that you may look at is the "personal knowledge" part of the information. In our area, when you take someone to court, you must take someone with "personal knowledge" of the debt to testify. Personal knowledge in our area means exactly that. Someone that is in the know. Without that, the judge will not rule in favor of the person filing the suit.

Someone that just has a piece of paper that states how much you owe has no personal knowledge, and therefore could have misrepresented themselves on the court information. Your mileage may vary....

Good luck.

[treehugger1]

Frogger, Thanks. That "personal knowledge" statement on the affidavit is where I am leaning. Some folks say that my attempt won't wash, but I have scoured hundreds of civil debt cases in my county files and I have never seen this called into question. I could have answered the original complaint, but the cost of answering ($200 + $50+ per motion for discovery and $30+ to answer motions) was not cost effective. I decided to wait and see what information was included as the law firm's evidence to suport a default judgment. Sure enough, there was the affidavit sworn and notarized by some "clerk" in C-Group. I think it is bullsh*t and will call them on it.

I have learned that this forum can be a great source of information as to where to start. In the end, personal experience is my best friend. Thanks for your comments. I'll keep everyone informed.

[catleg]

You might check this out: http://creditfactors.com/2009/10/cla...atently-false/

When the affiant is put to a deposition their case crumbles.

Note that this is a debt buyer. Still, wouldn't surprise me if many of the same arguments would be true with an OC.

[frogger]

Note that this is a debt buyer. Still, wouldn't surprise me if many of the same arguments would be true with an OC.

And........ if you're a debt buyer, show me an invoice in which you purchased MY account and that you now have all rights to it. Also show me the statements and signed invoices.