This week, the New York Times reported that consumers who had been the victim of fraud by unscrupulous debt collectors may be getting money back if the New York attorney general is successful in the lawsuit filed against two collection agencies and 35 attorneys.
According to the article, the debt collectors had sued the consumers and never served the consumers the lawsuit(s). The debt collectors then presented paperwork to the court proving that the consumer had been served and was ignoring the lawsuit….which results in a default judgment in favor of the debt collector. That default judgment then allows the debt collector to make attempts to seize assets of the consumer, usually placing a judgment lien against real property or by taking wages (garnishment).
The New York attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, is the force behind the lawsuit which seeks relief for 101,000 New York consumers. The debt collection agencies and attorneys may have committed perjury and the responsible parties may be facing criminal charges. \]
The lawsuit alleges that the default judgments were obtained through the use of false affidavits (the affidavits were sworn statements that the consumers had been given notice of the debt collection lawsuit).
If you have a debt collection agency suddenly appearing in your life and demanding payment due to a judgment, AND you have never heard of any judgment or lawsuit prior to getting a notice of garnishment, it is in your best interest to get copies of the complete court file. Look for the “service of process” paperwork which tells the Court how you were served with the lawsuit.
If the lawsuit was served to a resident at an address you haven’t lived at in years, or never lived at, you may be able to allege fraud, just like the New York Attorney General. If the paperwork says that the lawsuit was served personally to you as the defendant, and you don’t remember being sued, look for a description of who the process server served with the papers. You may want to call your state’s Attorney General’s Office.
If Mr. Cuomo wins his lawsuit, and if by chance, YOUR lawsuit, has the same debt collection agency, you may be able to convince the judge in your case that the debt collection agency acted fraudulently in your case as well as the New York cases.
