Can You Be Sued Over A Debt That Was Removed From Your Credit Report

[jk]

like the law says they should have contacted me with in 5 days .

what law would that be?

As Aaron told you, it would seem that there is no lawsuit filed. I hesitated to say that so directly due to the confusion within your post and your lack of commitment to the papers you recieved. Still you state, "I was served". I would not want you to ignore a suit due to somebody online telling you there is no suit but Aaron is an attorney and would be the best one to listen to here. I am still confused and unsure.

The prosecuting attorney would have nothing to do with any of this. This would all be in civil court. The PA deals with criminal court.

Contact the clerk of the courts office and ask them.

[totallyconfused]

- ok im looking at the papers right now.. on the top they say state of minn county of R???.. district court third judicial district case type: contract i think they are a complaint and summons.. the only date on them is the date dec 04,2006.. i have contacted the clerk of court to and the prosicuting attorneys office im sorry ididnt say that before.. they both have told me that there is nothing filed.. the fdcpa.. within 5 days of the collectors first call or letter to you the collector must send you a written notice. details the amount of the debt.. well i never got a letter from them about any thing..i never had the chance to dispute or disagree with it..

[aaron]

Look for a case number. A time stamp. A clerk's signature. Anything which would indicate that it was submitted to the court.

I can see this happening, albeit through an unlikely scenario - if a firm is preparing a stack of complaints and the clerical staff accidentally submits the summons and complaint to the firm's process server without first filing the complaint. But they should figure that out when they try to file the return of service.

I'm not going to try to second-guess your lawyer, but what you describe is very unusual.

[jk]

presumably the portion of the FDCPA youare referring to, correct?

§ 809. Validation of debts [15 USC 1692g]
(a) Within five days after the initial communication with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt, a debt collector shall, unless the following information is contained in the initial communication or the consumer has paid the debt, send the consumer a written notice containing --

(1) the amount of the debt

; they apparently informed you of this
(

2) the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed;

I would guess this one too since you are aware of where the debt is from

(3) a statement that unless the consumer, within thirty days after receipt of the notice, disputes the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector;

was this in there?

(4) a statement that if the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, the debt collector will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against the consumer and a copy of such verification or judgment will be mailed to the consumer by the debt collector; and

In there?

(5) a statement that, upon the consumer's written request within the thirty-day period, the debt collector will provide the consumer with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.

was this in there ans did your request such info?

(b) If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period described in subsection (a) that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt or any copy of a judgment, or the name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of such verification or judgment, or name and address of the original creditor, is mailed to the consumer by the debt collector.
(c) The failure of a consumer to dispute the validity of a debt under this section may not be construed by any court as an admission of liability by the consumer.

Do you have the original letter to confirm or dispute any inclusion or excludion of any of the above statements? If not, you are not going to be able to prove anything. As well, since you failed to act upon any breach of such requirements, you have simply waived any rights to contest them now.

Regardless, it still does not alter the responsibility for the debt. At best, it allows you the possibility of suing them for failing to act according to the FDCPA.

within 5 days of the collectors first call or letter to you the collector must send you a written notice.

was the first contact via phone or letter? If by phone, there is such a requirement. If it was a letter, if it included all the required info as stated above, they did not need to send an additioanl letter. Again, can you testify that they did not fulfill the requirements?

[totallyconfused]

i just looked threw the papers again.. i dont see any other names on them but a steven T R???? name from this law firm..and across the summons papers it says in blue ink stamped copy..other then that there is nothing else on these papers..on the botton of the papers it says make checks payable to this law firm.. and this is an attempt to collect a debt..i dont have an attorney any more or lawyer.. im on my own... so yes you to sounds like you are a littel confused or just as confused as i am.. the lady at the credit union she looked up unifund on ripoff.com and she printed out a report about them and on this report is just what they are doing to me.. i dont know witch way to turn or what to do about this.. im told not to pay and then i have ben told just to pay it.. i dont have the money.. so i dont know what to do...

[jk]

the county i live in is where the papers are from.. it says the county of ????.. i have taken the papers right up to the court house and they looked at them and then checked to see if there is a law suit against.. there is nothing civil or criminal.. and yes right after i was served these papers i took them right up to an attorney that i know.. he looked at them and said that some times if you have an attorney do an answer letter then they may leave you alone.. so he sis that for me with out chargeing me..

Ok, did your attorney send the letter to the creditor (or their attorney) or did he send a response to the courts? If he only sent a letter to the creditor or attorney, you probably have a default judgement by now for failing to respond to the summons. From what you posted, it seems he was speaking of simply sending the attorney a letter and not filing a response, although if it were an actual summons, I would think he would have understood that and acted accordingly.

Have the courts look for judgements against you rather than an open and active case. It would have been ruled on by now if you were served nearly a year ago.

[jk]

and this is an attempt to collect a debt....

Wait for Aaron to respond to this but it sounds like what you recieved was simply a letter from an attorney and not a summons since a summons does not contain the words "this is an attempt to collect a debt" but it is a required statemement on letters intended to attempt to collect a debt.


It sounds as if they may have violated the FDCPA for things other than what you were posting about. If you believed the letter to be an actual summons,

§ 808. Unfair practices [15 USC 1692f]
A debt collector may not use unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect any debt. Without limiting the general application of the foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this section:

(8) Using any language or symbol, other than the debt collector's address, on any envelope when communicating with a consumer by use of the mails or by telegram, except that a debt collector may use his business name if such name does not indicate that he is in the debt collection business.

If the letter was written to make you believe it was an actual summons, I believe that would be considered unfair and deceptive according to the FDCPA.

[totallyconfused]

i did not recieve a letter from unifund inregards to any of the quote 1 -5.. all i got was the court papers i told you about..

[jk]

but were they actually "court papers" or merely a letter made to appear as a summons. The term "this is an attempt to collect a debt" is not a standard included statement on a summons. It IS a required disclosure on a communication from a debt collector.

Try this;

take the letter to the courthouse and ask them point blank:

"is this an actual complaint filed with the court indicated?" (be sure you are asking this AT the court that is named at the top) The clerks cannot give legal advice but I do not believe that would be considered legal advice. You are simply asking if that letter is an official communication used as a complaint that would be filed with the courts.

go to this page and scroll down to "download complaint form" and look at that form. Although an attorney may very well use their own wording if allowed, it should be similar in what it contains if it is an actual complaint filed with the courts.

http://www.mncourts.gov/district/2/?page=1123

that is from the county of Ramsey but I would guess that most of the forms are the same or similar thoughout the state.

or here is one from another county in Minnesota

http://www.mncourts.gov/documents/1/...dcomplaint.pdf

[totallyconfused]

on the papers i was served there is no verification of acknowlegment and the spot wherefore plantiff it says prays for judgemetn against.. and there is no case # and no file # and the summons form there is no file # and the complaint form there is no file # at the bottom there is no verification of acknowledgmetn no subscribed and sworn to before me this_____ dayof____20___ no notary public/court clerk i wish i could send you a copy of the papers so you can see them for your self..