Certified Letter from Pressler

[howdidithappen]

Should I pick it up? Don't know what exactly it's about.

[treehugger1]

I pick everything up. But, that's me. I think Pressler is a collection attorney firm. They could simply be attempting to scare you. You can always pick up the mail and respond with a ceaase and desist all communications notice.

[howdidithappen]

They bought a judgment against me from Chase....

[treehugger1]

Ahh, I'm not sure what I would do in such a case. I suppose you could ignore it and if it turns out to be a legal (service) issue, they might have to serve you in person. This probably depends upon your state laws.

I wonder if it is a written debtor examination. Or, perhaps they are simply verifying that they now own the debt.

Maybe others have a few thoughts.

[catleg]

What state are you in?

In NJ it is possibly an information subpoena.

Technically that does not have to be served (regular+certified up to 15k here), but if you don't answer then they have to file a Motion for an order enforcing litigant's rights which does have to be served.

Curiously I had a similar situation with respect to Chase, I let them get a default judgment, but they didn't move to enforce it before I filed BK.

In other words, very likely you will get the same letter regular mail as well as certified mail. That constitutes service for special civil (under 15k) judgments.

[howdidithappen]

I'm in NJ. I just checked the judiciary's motion hearing schedule - a Motion for Summuary Judgement is to be heard THIS FRIDAY JUNE 8th - I have received nothing!

[howdidithappen]

Oops it a motion to enforce litigants rights. Pressler bought the judgmentt from Chase (original judment back in 2007 was for $22K).

[catleg]

OK, so first of all, since it's over 15k it's out of the league of Special Civil Part, where these lowlife like to practice.

You can object to the motion, on whatever grounds, but that's likely a waste of time. If the judge grants the motion (which is a given), you should get served with the order and hopefully another copy of an information subpoena, otherwise you can either call these weasels or just download the same form from the NJ judiciary website and mail it to them.

If you don't respond then they have to get the judge to issue an Order for Arrest which, even though there are special procedures to not make it like a regular arrest, you still probably don't want to deal with it.

I advise giving partial information and half truths on these forms; I have not heard of anyone being given a contempt citation for not answering fully and truthfully.

The next step after they receive your filled out information subpoena will likely be either a motion for a wage garnishment (if you're working), a bank account execution (if they can find it) and/or docketing the judgment against any real estate you might own in NJ.

Note that if they grab your bank account you can claim a $1000 wildcard exemption against the proceeds. They don't want you to know this.

The sample wage garnishment motion says it is limited to 10% of your salary, but that is only if you make a very low salary. Otherwise the federal limit is 25% of your after tax pay. I'm not sure if plaintiff's attorneys stick to the 10% informally just to make everybody happy or if they go for the throat.

[Fallonedward]

They bought a judgment against me from Chase....

How many months behind where you with Chase. I've heard horror stories that they bring a judgment once you hit the 60 day mark

[howdidithappen]

It didn't take Chase very long back in 2007 to file against me. They were unable to collect on the judgment and recently "sold" to to Pressler.

The case is in the Law Division. Why isn't there any notification from anyone???

[catleg]

Do you mean Friday June 11th? The 8th was yesterday :-) But most motion hearings are on Fridays.

If you haven't received an information subpoena by regular mail, as well as certified, you can go complain to the judge about improper service, for all the good it will do you.

I'll bet they filed the motion in special civil part even though the judgment is over $15k, correct?

Do you plan to file BK to take care of the judgment?

Just for laughs I'd call Pressler and ask what they want to settle for. The whole point of the exercise is just to shock you into calling them, IMHO.

[catleg]

If I sound cynical it's because I think the NJ courts have been captured by the creditors bar, and as such there is little due process for debtors here. Thus leaving BK as the only escape from them.

[howdidithappen]

I just found out, myself, by searching the court online website, that a Motion had been filed. Besides, the opposing party not notifying me neither did the court system! I was served with a summons on a different matter and was looking to see if there was a Motion date for that - that how I found this....... It says the Motion on friday is a motion to enforce litigants rights - so I have no idea what they're looking for (except money!). How can they get away without notifying/serving you????

[treehugger1]

It always depends upon your particular state laws. And, this is exactly why I believe a debtor who has defaulted on contracts has a responsibility to monitor his/her local court files.

For others out there, don't walk away from debt and ignore your local courthouse. While it may sometimes be the case that CA's/OC's/Jdb's ignore the law, it is more likely that it is the defendant who has not been proactive when protecting their rights.

In terms of the court "notifying you" they may not be required to. I recently discovered that in my county court, they do not have to notify me of a default judgment against me. While I have been notified of the many past judgments, a recent case resulted in no notification to me. When I inquired with my county clerk, she said the local court had no responsibility to inform me, particularly in a case where I never answered a summons. I asked her why they had notified me in the past, and she did not have an answer.

I didn't really care as I have alwasy monitored my local court files since defaulting several years ago. It takes me about 15 minutes when I'm in the town of my county seat to pull up files on their computer.

[WhatMoney]

I just found out, myself, by searching the court online website, that a Motion had been filed. Besides, the opposing party not notifying me neither did the court system! I was served with a summons on a different matter and was looking to see if there was a Motion date for that - that how I found this....... It says the Motion on friday is a motion to enforce litigants rights - so I have no idea what they're looking for (except money!). How can they get away without notifying/serving you????

You said they sent you a certified letter. What was in it? Did it mention the Friday motion? If so, you were notified.

I'm not sure you are required to appear at the hearing - when a judgment is sold the new owner just goes through the same execution procedures as the original holder. Maybe NJ has some extra requirements for transferred judgments.