I need advice. Our house forclosed in 1997. At the time we had a second mortgage through The Money Store. The last payment was July 1997. The transfered the $25,000 owing to Imperial Collection in No. California. They served us with papers for a lawsuit which at the time we ignored. Now they say there is a judgement against us which I find no record of at the County Recorders office. When confronted in July of this year they refused to give any reference numbers so we could track this supposed judgement. They called my husband yesterday at work after being told in July not to. They refuse to send anything in writing and they have made an attempt to garnish my wages however my employer refuses to give them any info. What steps should I take? What kind of letter should I send these people? Thanks
Do you still have the papers they served you with? Everything in a court case is filed under the case number. That is put on each piece of paper involved in the lawsuit, including the summons and complaint (which is what you probably received). Look in the upper right corner for the number. At the very top of the page, it will list the court (county and state). Then go to the courthouse and look again. I think you must have been looking in the wrong place. Many courthouses have different levels of court , each with its own clerk. You may have been in the wrong clerks office. Or, they may have sued you in a different county or state. That is why the case number is important. If you have the case number, they can usually find it. It may be in storage so it may take a few days. Court clerks are super - always very helpful, unless you go to the federal courthouse in Miami. They realize a lot of people don't have a clue what to look for or ask for. If you were sued, the courthouse will have the papers. They do not throw them out, even if the suit is dropped. Once you find it, then you can review it and see what they have. I suspect that if they filed, they followerd through with it. It would not suprise me if they had a judgement against you.
Thanks, I will look for the case number. The papers were given to a BK lawyer who still has them although we decided not to file BK. The curious thing is this "judgement" does not show up on any of my CRAs. I know it would have been filed in the county where I still live so I know I'm looking in the right place. Does the collection agency have an obligation to inform me of the case number?
Normally they wil not give you anything over the phone except a hard time. You may want to try a validation letter to the CA and ask specifically for the case number. But, they will take the full 30 days to answer so you will have to wait. Or they may just ignore you. You are better off looking for it yourself. Don't be suprised that it has not shown up in your credit reports. It will, usually at the worst possible time (like two days before you close on a new home).
Luckily they didn't start the latest round until a month after our house closed. The judgement should have gone through in 1998. Hopefully, it won't show up now.
Didn't the Money Store fold? If so, what in the hell is Imperial collecting? FIGHT THEM! Send them a C & D and sue 'em if you have to.
I did a little research after kittw posted. First Union bought them in 1998. They then dumped them in 2000. First Union is still collecting money from people who had loans from them but basically The Money Store no longer exists. What I need to know is how does this affect me? If I send a C & D letter, does the account go to First Union or does it go into outer space (which is where I would like it)?
I would think you would want to start with validation demand. I would not want to use a full C&D because then they would have no legal way to contact you. That might lead to a quicker motion for judgment against you which I am sure would not turn your crank to far or if it did, in the wrong direction. The result might be an uncontrollable backfire. That might end up causing you to blow a rod or a head gasket.
Thank you for your info. But what happened to HomeQ? They are doing a bunch of collections for the Money Store even now too.
