In 2003, appearantly I was sued for over $8000. by Wolpoff & Abramson for Platinum Financial Services Corp Assigne. I've NEVER had credit with the original creditor, Providian, amounting to any such dept back then. I rescently had my credit pulled and discovered this judgement to my shock and surprize. I searched and found the court case information to which I had never been in attendance nor aware of. I then attempted to contact the Plaintiff which led me to the current holder, Mann Bracken to NO AVAIL! Mann Bracken just made headlines by appearantly closing down abruptly. How do I get this incorrect dept judgement reversed or cleared when the holder is now closed?
I would think that now would be an ideal time to file to have the judgment vacated on the grounds of improper service. If Mann Bracken is nowhere to be found or is in the midst of a collapse, they may not respond -- and may not appear at a re-trial. I'll admit that I don't know how judgments work at all, though, so YMMV.
That's a great idea Sparq. According to a video I saw on the net a few days ago their offices are closed and only a few cleanup people were there moving stuff out and presumably into storage for sale later. Of course, they most likely sold all their accounts to other debt collectors who will also be reeling from the impact of all the new business they got and trying to sort it all out. The confusion left as an aftermath could last for many months or even years. In addition to getting judgments vacated disputing them off credit reports should be easier as well. The problem with getting judgments vacated is that in order to do so one must raise new issues that if known at the time of trial would have changed the outcome of the trial. Meeting that criteria is not easy. Jurisdiction is another approach but in order to establish jurisdictional issues one must first of all understand all the different types of jurisdiction and how they apply. Geographical jurisdiction is one type. A district court only has jurisdiction within the county in which it sits and in no other however in some situations the long arm statutes might apply. Keeping it simple, if ABC files a lawsuit in Dodge County against a debtor who lives in Custer County the debtor can file a response claiming that the Dodge County court lacks geographical jurisdiction. Sometimes the Dodge County court will dismiss as petitioned but in most cases they will simply order that it be transferred over to Custer County. Another type of jurisdictional issue is Subject matter jurisdiction. Does the court have the authority to hear this type of case. State courts automatically assume subject matter jurisdiction but federal courts are much different. In federal courts the plaintiff and the court must address that matter immediately. One of the first considerations in federal court is whether or not the court has jurisdiction under the Diversity clause. Plaintiffs normally use 28 U.S.C. 1331 and 1332 to establish the courts jurisdiction Once the diversity issue is resolved then the question becomes whether or not the amount sued for is proper for federal courts to have authority and jurisdiction. Then comes the matter of statutory jurisdiction. Each cause of action needs to be listed and a showing of how and why the court has jurisdiction over the statutory issues. The court might have jurisdiction under 15 U.S.C. 1692(g) §(a) [for instance]. § stands for section and §§ indicates multiple sections. Once the jurisdiction is properly addressed then each cause of action must be shown and every motion or pleading must be accompanied by a memorandum of law. Once someone knows all this stuff and how to properly prepare the documents they can have a local case either put together or responded to very quickly, usually in about an hour or less. A federal case will usually require at least two to four hours no matter how experienced one might be. The idea that a newbie or even a relative newbie can go into a court and beat an experienced attorney all by himself is preposterous in most cases. Proper preparation of the paper work isn't the only problem a newbie faces. Strategy is even more important and is what really wins the day. Knowing what the other attorney is going to do before they do it and heading them off at the pass is what it takes to win and even then most cases in lower courts are simply not winnable. In order to turn a loser into a winner the defendant must be prepared to turn the tables on the other fellow and become a plaintiff in federal court. In order to make that possible the defendant must fight to the death in local court in order to come up with the causes of action necessary to establish a winning case in federal court. I realize that I have probably made the whole thing seem so difficult as to discourage many from even trying but believe me, this stuff isn't rocket science. Almost anyone with a fairly normal I.Q. can easily master it.
I do appreciate the help here and have a bit more. After posting I tried to go to the original source, Providian. Their credit card accounts were eventually inherited by Chase. I contacted Chase's collections and legal department who did a check on three databases to which they could find nothing by my SSN. They gave me an address to which a written request might turn up a written statement declairing the bugus judgement is for an old Providian account which has no record. If I simply dispute the judgement with the credit agencies and they get no reply from the supposed holders, will they simply remove the judgement?
So long as that judgment is a matter of public record it is doubtful that it will disappear from your public record until the 7 year period for reporting has passed.
The last status date on the court record is 10/29/2003. This October will be 7 years. I was told judgements either never go away, or possibly drop off after 10 years, but I need it rectified now. Should I simply secure a law firm in the area of the original judgement and pay them to get a reversal or expungment?
Quite frankly I wouldn't waste the time looking for a lawyer. Seven years may or may not be correct. It depends on what state you live in. Different states have different laws regarding statute of limitations. Some states such as Oklahoma have a 5 year statute of limitations and in some states judgments last for 10 or even 20 years. To find out about the laws in your state you need to go to Lawdog.com and see what the laws are for your state. Simply click on the tab that says state laws state by state then click on courts and judgments then look in the upper right had corner and click on judgments and then scroll down towards the bottom of the page and you will find out most of the available information about judgments in your state. Lawdog is far more reliable than any other web site out there when it comes to such things. Their information is updated whenever state laws are changed. I've never found any other site that does that.
