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worried123 · May 15, 2009, 06:51 AM

I recently found out that I got a judgment on me for an old credit card I had. I called my county courthouse to got the information of the judgement and called them but came to find out they did not have a case on me. I am stuck and don't know what to do. The judgement was from 2005.

AK lawyer · May 15, 2009, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by worried123

... I called my county courthouse... but ... they did not have a case on me. ...

Either the person you talked to on the phone didn't know what he/she was doing; your information that there is a judgment against you was incorrect; or perhaps the judgment was in a different county.

How did you find out about it?
Do you have a copy of the judgment, or just word-of-mouth?

worried123 · May 15, 2009, 10:04 AM

I don't have the original judgement but I do have my credit report and it's on there that's why I called the courthouse and they gave me the information. I called the informaiton and they looked in their system along with their cases and he did not find me anywhere in their stuff. What should I do?

AK lawyer · May 15, 2009, 10:14 AM

Contact the credit reporting agency and ask them to correct their records. Inform them what you found out from the court and tell them that their report is wrong.

worried123 · May 15, 2009, 10:25 AM

The court said I need a satisfication of judgement for them to take it off my record. It's the attorney who represent the case who said they didn't have me in their system. The court definitely have me in their system that's how I found out the attorney for the case.

ScottGem · May 15, 2009, 10:42 AM

If the attorney does not have you in their systems. But the court has a docket showing them to be the attorney of record, then they should issue a retraction of the judgement.

worried123 · May 15, 2009, 10:46 AM

Whio should I ask to issue a retraction of the judgement?

ScottGem · May 15, 2009, 10:46 AM

The attorney since they have no record of it but the court says they are the attorney of record.

AK lawyer · May 15, 2009, 10:47 AM

You are telling me two different stories. First you said, twice, that the court didn't have any record of the judgment, and now you are saying that they do, but the plaintiff's attorney doesn't.

If the latter version is now what you are saying, you would need to contact the credit card company directly, and negotiate with them. Apparently the attorney no longer represents them and has lost any record of the case.

worried123 · May 15, 2009, 10:56 AM

Sorry about the confusion...

It's the attorney that represents the case (I got the attorney information from the court) that does not have my information in their system.

How do I find out the credit card information when it's been so long and there are so many listed on Google? Do you think the court should have that information?

ScottGem · May 15, 2009, 10:57 AM

The court should have all the information about the plaintiff and the debt.

AK lawyer · May 15, 2009, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by ScottGem

The attorney since they have no record of it but the court says they are the attorney of record.

If an attorney who had no record of me as a client filed something in my behalf filed something called a retraction of judgment, without my knowledge and consent, I would be really ticked.

Assuming the attorney seeks permission first, is he supposed to send the "client" a bill for his services? If not, how does he get compensated for his trouble?

No, the attorney who has no record of the case probably doesn't have a current relationship with his former client. Contact the company.

worried123 · May 15, 2009, 11:37 AM

So what do I do?

One person is telling me to do a retraction of judgement and another to contact the company which I don't have their info. I googled them and there are so many of them. Do I just call any of them and find out if they have my case? Are they all connected?

this8384 · May 15, 2009, 12:18 PM

This is turning into a mess. You need to:

1) Find out which county has the judgment listed and what the case number is.
2) Contact that county's clerk of courts, give them the case number and ask for proof of judgment.
3) If you were never served court papers and the plaintiff won by default, you can file to have the judgment vacated on the grounds of improper service.

AK lawyer · May 16, 2009, 08:39 AM

Originally Posted by this8384

...
3) If you were never served court papers and the plaintiff won by default, you can file to have the judgment vacated on the grounds of improper service.

Might very well be too late for that, I suspect. Also it's a "your word against his word" issue: process server said (at the time) that he served you personally, you say "I have no memory of that". Supposedly happened years ago. Who's more believable?

But by all means examine the return of service and determine how you were supposedly served, and if it's plausible.

Originally Posted by worried123

so what do I do?

That's a very interesting question.

As I understand what you have told us, the court has the case file, but the plaintiff's attorney of record (as shown in the case file) has no memory or record if the case.

I would first peruse the case file for clues as to the identity of the plaintiff/ judgment creditor. For example, the complaint might recite that "ABC Credit Company" has assigned the claim to "XYZ Collection Agency", a corporation organized under the laws of the State of ___". If you know where XYZ was incorprated, you can find a record of it in the corprations office of that state.

Oother clues might be documents attached to the complaint, including copies of records of the original credit card account, proof of assignment, etc. An affidavit will be signed before a notary. Google these people and contact them for additional information.

You should also contact the original credit card company and ask if they have any record of assigning the claim, and if so, who they asssigned it to.

After you have tried everything, put together an affidavit of diligent inquiry (specifying in detail everything you have tried), and file your affidavit along with a motion to dissolve, quash, (or whatever term you want to use) the judgment. You will of course send copies of everything you file with the court to the original attorney (for whatever he wants to do with it). You might also ask the court for leave to serve the plaintiff by publication.

Originally Posted by worried123

I googled them and there are so many of them. Do I just call any of them and find out if they have my case? are they all connected?

Could very well be the same. What is the name?

worried123 · May 18, 2009, 09:46 AM

Great seneca financial Corp

AK lawyer · May 18, 2009, 09:53 AM

It looks to me that this is probably the one you need to deal with. My search engine (Google) has a number of links to articles about it, but they all seem to refer to the same company.

It looks like they have been involved in litigation over their debt collection practices. Perhaps if you contacted some of the attorneys involved in those class action cases you would find it helpful.