Of course! however you might wanna make sure and wait for another commenter to confirm it as I am not completely sure. Better yet, why don't you contact the Lending Tree guys because they can assist you better...

A validation letter won't work for a judgment. All they have to prove is, they have a court order to collect. You need tp get the file from the court that granted the judgment and see if state law regarding proper service was followed...

Can you get something in writing from the OC that they have no record of the account now and that they have deleted it from their records? If so, that should also go to the court - maybe you can have the judgement vacated..

Can the attorney provide proof that it's an "unpaid judgement". Why are they coming after this money Now? It's been almost 10 years. Is there an SOL for judgements in your state? Does this guy actually represent the OC in any capacity? You might want to forward this info to the OC - maybe they've never heard of the attorney..

You might send a letter stating that 21 days is not enough time to find records of payment, judgement status etc. You could also check with the county clerk to see if the judgement has been satisfied or still shows as unpaid. There are CAs (and lawyers) out there that simply check records and make arrangements with OCs to collect. Sounds to me like this guy doesn't know what he's doing, though, and it smells very fishy...

First, thank you all for answering so quickly..

I'll get a copy of the judgement. Any ideas where I can find the laws about correct service of papers?.

I can't get a copy of payoff from the title company, they only keep their records for 7 years, it's been 10 years and 3 months since everything got paid off..

Also, I'm in Oregon, the SOL for everything here is 6 years and the judgement is renewable for another 10 years after the 1st 10 years..

The orginal creditor was Montgomery Wards. They are out of business and the company that took over has no records of me even existing. Although the lawyer is collecting for them..

Thanks again...

Someone has GOT to have a copy of your payoff somewhere. HOW did you pay them off? By cash, credit card, money order or check? There must be a record somewhere and you must look for it..

First off I would calm down and not be worried yet. It will take time for them to garnish your bank accounts. Umm I know this may not sound honest but I would pull all money out of your bank accounts today. Sounds like this attorney is not all that honest (are any of them?) Are your checks auto deposited? Hopefully not. I found a trick that works. Get a family member who has an account at another bank to cash your checks for you, through their account.

So atleast you can protect your cash for the time being. Your money trail can be partially covered up as well if you do have big paychecks they could garnish..

Do a search on "process service" or server though Google, your states statutes website or this board..

Your state government can give you the URL and most do have their statutes online. You will find your answer there. Good luck..

Robert.

'Bad creditors are like parasites, but parasites have a conscience'..

Get the file from the courthouse, and see what is in it...

Thanks everyone..

There are no copies of the checks, the divorce decree stated that the house had to be sold and all debts paid off through the title company. They do not have copies of the checks as this all happened over 10 years ago, and they only keep copies for 7 years..

I will head to the courthouse today, any thoughts, do I just waltz up there (hard to waltz with 2 sm. kids in tow) and ask to look at the file. And what am I looking for besides how I was served. Any ideas are welcome..

Boy, you sure get alot more responses on this board..

Thanks so much, it is TRULY appreciated...

Make copies of everything in the file if you can...

QUEEN_BEE,breeze,Burbs Guy,keepmine,xhardcOrex,.

Thank you, thank you!!!!.

What a great day when people really try to help out the little people like me...

Call the courthouse to see what you need to do in order to look at your file. Save yourself some time just in case they have a weird procedure..

And speaking of little people...i'm a 5'7" tall man. WATCH IT. Being vertically challenged and male is not a cool thing..

Rob..

Thanks, I will do that..

I come from a vertically challenged family, I am the amazon at 5'6" and my husband is the giant, he's got at least 10" on all of them...

Also, I'm in Oregon, the SOL for everything here is 6 years and the judgment is renewable for another 10 years after the 1st 10 years..

Ma_bear911.

===================.

This absolutely preposterous..

How can a paid judgment be renewed?..

They do not have copies of the checks as this all happened over 10 years ago, and they only keep copies for 7 years..

Ma_bear911.

=======================.

Do you know why this is so???..

Yep, you can just waltz in there, kids in tow. Matter of fact, it will probably make the clerk want to help you. :D.

Judgments in OR are good for 10 years, renewable for 10. I think you might want to consult a good attorney. This may get tricky, and in the end, you may have a lawsuit against whoever sold this account after it was paid...

I am pretty sure that you can ask for validation from anyone who is collecting for an account for any reason. Also, since they can't prove that you owe the money, you may be able to get the judgement vacated, but only if your state law allows it and you are within the time limits to do so..

Find out your rules of court where you were sued. You may be able to get their execution and the judgement vacated...

Make sure that you search the for any mistakes in the papers..

There are other reasons to get a judgement vacated. In my state you can come back years later and get one vacated. IN some states you only have a limited amount of time..

If the creditor is no longer in business it may be really easy..

If they will allow a motion to vacate, go to your local office supply store and get yourself an Order Vacating judgment form..

In reality if you werent served in person, then you did not recieve "Good Servcie". On these grounds alone, you have the possibility of reopening the judgement on the grounds that you never knew of the suit. This is when collector will have to "prove without a doubt that you owe the money". No default judgemnt here.....

I've been contacted again by a lawyer for a judgment.

He wants front and back copies of the check..

Ma_bear911.

So is this lawyer saying that you never paid the creditor or is he saying you never paid the judgment?.

LB 59..

Mabear,.

Is the judgement valid? Is there any reason to vacate or are whe talking about a valid judgement?.

If you paid a judgement off and a collector is coming after you for the amount owed, it would be in your best interest to track that check down.....

Everyone trying to help:.

The judgement is not valid, when we divorced the judge ordered that all accounts be paid in full when our house sold. All payoffs, including this one from Montgomery Wards were paid off from the proceeds of the sale through a title company..

Montgomery Wards is now out of business, they have been for years. I don't know how they got the judgement, I haven't been able to go to the courthouse yet. I will be able to go tomorrow morning. Supposedly, Wards got the judgement, this lawyer is handling for the company that took over in the Wards bankruptcy..

The title company told me that by law, they are only required to keep copies of checks paid out for 7 years. They have tried to be helpful. Does anyone think that a friend of the family who works there and had some involvement in this sale from the side of the title company, if it would be helpful if she signed a sworn statement to the judge that this was all paid off from the proceeds of the sale that it might help..

Last question that has me wondering, this lawyer is obviously acting as a CA, since he is, can I request validation to take to a judge to vacate, as they have repeately stated they have no proof, besides the judgement?.

Thanks all..

Lbrown59,.

He is saying that I never paid the OC..

By the way, if the SOL, in Oregon for everything is 6 years for everything, how can they do this. since the date of last activity, was 1993. Or, do they go by the date fo the judgement (1996) and they are good for 10 years, renewable for another 10 years?.

Any ideas?..

Did you figure out if it is too late to vacate the judgement? If you can vacate the judgement for not being served then this would be your out. It is highly unlikely that the attorney will show up to a new trial...

You can still ask for validation of the debt, but this does not get rid of a defualt judgement. You really need to take care of getting the judgement vacated...

If you paid a judgement off and a collector is coming after you for the amount owed, it would be in your best interest to track that check down....

Godaddyo.

=========================.

Ma_bear91 Says the OC aka Wards was paid off..

Is ma_bear911 required to pay the judgment to in addition to wards???..

Godaddyo,.

Calling the court right now to find out if it's to late..

Thanks...

It would be in your best interest to track that check down....

Godaddyo.

=========================.

Wards and the Title Co.aren't required to keep account records over 7 Yrs. & neither is the consumer ie ma_bear911..

This alone proves there is no debt...

All,.

Called the court, they are ordering the record out of archives. It won't be available until tomorrow afternoon. The clerk stated that "it was a good service" to my last known address. How is this considered a "good service" when I wasn't the one served, I wasn't even living there? That the only way to get this taken care of was to show the lawyer proof of payoff and request the lawyer to show a satisfied judgement..

Why in the h*ll would I want to show "satisfied" for the judgement when I already paid this years ago!!.

I want my money back that they garnished from my account. The clerk also stated that it is renewable for another 10 years. I feel like this is going to haunt me forever. They (the lawyer) have put it back on my CR, yeah, just one more thing to deal with..

What if I can't get any proof that it was paid off? Any answers from anyone about having that friend of the family write a signed statement to the judge about this having been paid from the proceeds of the house?.

Thanks everyone, you all have been really helpful...

You wouldn't happen to still have the closing papers from when you sold the house, do you? Your HUD-1 (closing statement) should show all debts that were paid out of the proceeds from the sale. That might work as proof that Monkey Wards was paid in full...

Herauntsis,.

No, but what a GREAT idea, I could probably still order them..

Thank you, thank you, on and on...

By the way, if the SOL, in Oregon for everything is 6 years for everything,.

1* how can they do this. since the date of last activity, was 1993..

2* Or, do they go by the date of the judgment (1996).

Ma_bear911.

===================.

1*By allowing debts past SOL to be heard in court.A serious loop hole in SOL laws and a major defect in judgment proceedings..

2*No 1993 starts the sol..

LB 59..

Lbrown59,.

I might be wrong, is this collectible? They did get a judgement within the SOL. But, is the amount they're claiming collectible since the SOL passed before they collected anything? How does the 10 years for the judgement play into this?..

I believe the SOL has to do with how long they have to collect the debt without a judgement. Once they have a judgement, that SOL no longer applies. Then you are dealing with the SOL for the judgement, and I think somebody already said that in Oregon the judgement can be renewed every 10 years...

1*I might be wrong, is this collectible? They did get a judgement within the SOL..

2*is the amount they're claiming collectible since the SOL passed before they collected anything?.

3*How does the 10 years for the judgement play into this?.

Ma_bear911.

============ =========== ========.

1*Not if paid.

2*Yes if it hasn't al ready been paid..

3*It can be renewed in 2006 and again in 2016.unless paid..

LB 59..

Thanks everyone, gotta go for awhile to get some stuff done, will be checking in later...

1*it didn't state judgment then, just changed from our joint account to a separate one for me..

2*last year when they garnished my bank account I didn't know about..

I have 21 days to respond to this letter or the attorney is threatening to garnish again.

Ma_bear911.

==============.

1 *Why was this change made on the account..

Why are they going after you only and not the other account holder also?.

How do you know the other account holder hasn't been sued and they are collecting from both of you?Thus getting double paid!.

2*Garnish again! Why did they ever stop garnishing?.

LB 59..

1*That the only way to get this taken care of was to show the lawyer proof of payoff.

2*I want my money back that they garnished from my account..

3*What if I can't get any proof that it was paid off?.

Ma_bear911.

==================.

1* this demand is totally unreasonable..

2* how much was that ? What was the orginal amount that the Title co. paid to wards??.

3* You don't have to prove anything about the account just like wards and the title company don't..

LB 59..

Just because they said it was GOOD SERVICE, doesnt mean it was good service. It is disputable if your state allows it withing a certain time frame....

<< Someone has GOT to have a copy of your payoff somewhere. HOW did you pay them off? By cash, credit card, money order or check? There must be a record somewhere and.

**you must look for it. xhardc0rex.

**I disagree- he isn't required to prove anything...

1*That the only way to get this taken care of was to show the lawyer proof of payoff.

2*I want my money back that they garnished from my account..

3*What if I can't get any proof that it was paid off?.

Ma_bear911.

==================.

1* this demand is totally unreasonable..

2* how much was that ? What was the orginal amount that the Title co. paid to wards??.

3* You don't have to prove anything about the account just like wards and the title company don't..

_## How is it that I don't have to prove anything ? The court clerk said that if I don't prove that it was paid off, then I'm responsible to prove that it was orginally paid in full..

The orginal amount was something like $300-$650. The lawyer took out $203.13 from my business checking account..

If I don't have to prove anything, am I reading the statement correct? Then it won't stop them from garnishing my bank accounts. And can they garnish my personal account if the only money put in that is from my husbands job? ____________________________________________________.

1 *Why was this change made on the account..

Why are they going after you only and not the other account holder also?.

How do you know the other account holder hasn't been sued and they are collecting from both of you?Thus getting double paid!.

2*Garnish again! Why did they ever stop garnishing?.

LB 59.

###They aren't going after my ex because they changed the first number on the account and consider the joint account paid off. They consider him to be the regular number account and the wife (me) to be the second account with the first number changed. Don't ask me how, I don't know why they did this to our joint account. My only guess, is that when we closed the account during the seperation, this somehow changed, as we informed them we were closing the account because we were divorcing and didn't want any more charges on it then the divorce papers specified..

##I think they stopped garnishing because I quit putting money into that account and changed banks.__________________________________________________.

Just because they said it was GOOD SERVICE, doesnt mean it was good service. It is disputable if your state allows it withing a certain time frame...

GoDaddyo.

### They said it is still within the time frame that I can have the judgement vacated. But the clerk stated that since they left it with someone who said he was my roommate, they consider it good service and that they also mailed a copy to my last known address. That "constitutes good service"..

__________________________________________________.

<< Someone has GOT to have a copy of your payoff somewhere. HOW did you pay them off? By cash, credit card, money order or check? There must be a record somewhere and.

**you must look for it. xhardc0rex.

**I disagree- he isn't required to prove anything..

### Monkey Wards was paid through the title company by check. Our divorce decree specified that all listed debt be paid through the title company. No funds were dispersed until all the debts were paid from the proceeds of the house..

_______________________________________________.

Any ideas, if it would work about having a family friend, who does and did work for the title company at the time, having her notorize a statement to the court that this was paid?.

Thanks everyone..

___..

Got a copy of HUD closing statement. Montgomery Wards is right on there as paid. The numbers don't match up to their accounting. Title company paid out $210.00 and they claim $676.00..

Called the title co. first thing this morning, got the lady who actually closed this loan, she is now upper management. She made a bunch of phone calls on this account. They no longer have the check, they get all of their checks from the bank and destroy after 7 years. She even checked to see if anything was still open on the account, all checks were cashed. She is sending me a letter that states all accounts were paid in full and that the account is closed as everything is paid..

Question, should I contact the attorney again and send him proof of this closing statement? If so, what to tell him when he states that the numbers don't match up?..

There should be records through the court that the judgement was satisfied. Do you have papers on the sale of the hous?. This should also show who received payment from sale of house...

Should I just go after a motion to vacate, instead of trying to deal with this attorney?.

My ideas on this, please correct if wrong:.

1. Never served, affidavit from who I was living with at time of service..

2. Closing statement from title company showing Wards as paid, but not the amount they are claiming..

3. Judgment papers state 18% interest rate, allowable in Oregon is 9%..

4. Letter from closing agent stating that everything was paid off and account closed..

5. Attorney can provide no validation on this account, nothing exists except for affidavit from GE Capital that I supposedly owe this money..

Anything I forgot, ideas? Thanks so much!!..

Not yet, but working on it. Thanks for asking..

I now have the closing statement from HUD, and a letter from the title company stating that everything was paid in full and account closed..

Lawyer wants copy of closing statement, but states that they have had other problems with title companies paying incorrect parties, so he's trying to use that against me..

Saga continues, decided that I'm really tired of this lawyer trying to dictate my life and checking accounts. Time for me to get proactive, I'm not taking his crap anymore and going to file a motion to vacate..

Again, thanks for asking...

Are you talking pre-judgment interest or post-judgment interest?.

According to this:.

Http://www.amre.com/content/rl/postjudgeinterest.pdf.

Post-judgment interest is 9% or rate provided in the contract, if higher than 9%..

Pre-judgment interest is 9% or rate agreed on by parties..

You've done some great research :)..

I would try to get it vacated because you weren't living there when the papers were served. They didn't care that the person wasn't your roommate at that time, they just wanted to be able to say they served you at your last known address..

Get something, anything, that provides proof that you didn't live at that address and file the motion to vacate. Maybe you'll get lucky. Certainly nothing to lose...