Collection lawsuit's In Washington State

[DYLAN150]

In Washington state the summons and complaint do not need to be filed with the court before they are served on the defendant.

Most summons and complaint for debt collection in Washington likely are served without being filed with the court first. The attorneys likely are hoping to save themselves some time. If the defendants do not respond, the attorneys would file the summons, complaint, and a motion for default on the same day after the time for the defendants to answer has passed. (20 days)

The attorneys may also be hoping that a lack of a cause number on the documents lull the defendants into thinking that a lawsuit has not actually been started. This is a great advantage for the plaintiff. At this point they have very little cost's tied up in this lawsuit.

However, the advantage for the defendant is to answer the lawsuit and don't appear to be an easy mark.

Since the lawsuit has not been filed and no filing fee paid, a lot of the times the plaintiff fails to file the suit. Some of the collection attorneys in Washington state send's out dozens of these per week hoping the defendant's do not answer.

[LadyInTheRed]

Interesting post! I wonder if other state's have similar procedures or if Washington is unique in this respect.

[treehugger1]

It is funny you mention Washington's rule of procedure that allows what I call preemptive service.

I have a five-year-old credit card debt that was purchased by a small JDB in your state. It is currently handled by a collection firm out of Wenatchee. They have sent a letter or two to my PO box asking for a street address to commence legal service. I have not used a street address for correspondence in 15 years.

I have the sense that the attorney wants to serve me Washington State style. That won't fly here if the possible defendant knows Oregons RCP's and is not afraid of a little attitude from collection attorneys.

Oregon requires that a complaint first be filed with the county clerk in the county the defendant resides in before any action can commence. That won't stop an attorney from your state from attempting to serve a summons with no case number, but I have to wonder if it would be considered harrassment and violation of procedure in Oregon.

[DYLAN150]

Tree: I have only gotten one of these lawsuits so far. When I answered, and declared they file the lawsuit within 15 days, then went away. Now another Junk debt buyer has it.

[treehugger1]

Dylan, Did you file a report of exemptions when you answered? I can't remember.

Low and behold, on this very topic, I received a dunning letter from the Washington attorney. The debt collection attorney is out of Spokane.

I think I will send a DV and include a bit of my current exemption information. It might make a difference if they know I have a permanent Department of Education student loan garnishment, back taxes garnishment, two outstanding judgments, no assets of liquid values, and all other assets are well within the Oregon exemptions for seizure.

Any thoughts?

In July, I will be two years away from retirement, and thus 30 months away from a chapter 7 bankruptcy. I am counting the days!!

[DYLAN150]

Tree: Yes, I always send them a copy. Hit this address below and scoll down. Its a ready made Washington state form which is pretty good. I don't No if Oregon has one already made up.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/35555817/Declaration-of-Defendant-Regardi

[GoingDown]

I think I will send a DV and include a bit of my current exemption information. It might make a difference if they know I have a permanent Department of Education student loan garnishment, back taxes garnishment, two outstanding judgments, no assets of liquid values, and all other assets are well within the Oregon exemptions for seizure.

Any thoughts?

A similar technique has worked for me over and over again and again.

I just try to think about it from the debt collector's point of view. Why would I want to spend any time, effort, or money going after someone who is obviously not going to pay me any money? No thanks, I'll look for some lower hanging fruit so I can keep the lights on and the phone bill paid at my collection agency.

[DYLAN150]

My Debt validation letter includes of course debt dispute, C & D, they can communicate with me by United States mail only, and an declaration of my income and assets that are exempt from garnishment, levy or assignment.

[Resigned2BK]

This is exactly what one firm was trying to do to us. We stalled them for months by simply demanding that they prove they can collect on the debt and that the debt truly is my husband's. They did that exact summons/lawsuit strategy in late July, finally sent us documents (albeit NOT what we were asking for as proof BTW) in November, and filed their suit officially with the court one day before we filed. We didn't know about the official filing until a week after we filed and laughed our silly butts off.

[LadyInTheRed]

I have the sense that the attorney wants to serve me Washington State style. That won't fly here if the possible defendant knows Oregons RCP's and is not afraid of a little attitude from collection attorneys.

Oregon requires that a complaint first be filed with the county clerk in the county the defendant resides in before any action can commence. That won't stop an attorney from your state from attempting to serve a summons with no case number, but I have to wonder if it would be considered harrassment and violation of procedure in Oregon.

If they want to sue an Oregon resident, they generally have to sue in Oregon court and follow Oregon court procedures. They may try serving you using WA procedure hoping to scare you. But, unless you live or do business in WA or take certain specified actions, the WA court has no jurisdiction over you. You could unintentionally consent to jurisdiction if you respond to a summons without objecting to jurisdiction. So, if you are served with a WA lawsuit, you should consult an attorney about how to respond. A list of actions that will give the WA court jurisdiction over you are in RCW 4.28.185.