Garnishment 12 year old Judgment

L

legalhelp23

New Member
Hello,

My parents received a garnishment summons placed on their door for me, for a judgment dated from 11/2003. It is for a retail card + interest+ fees, etc. I called the general district court and they said they no longer have it on file. The circuit court said the judgment isn't on file but the creditor recently filed for the garnishment. The clerk advised I have a few months to file paperwork to dispute but she could not provide legal advice on next steps.

I would like to know #1-Since this is 12 years old should I dispute this? I don't have any receipts or anything showing I paid the debt but it was paid and I assumed this was cleared up because it has not been on my credit report since I called the original creditor to have it removed (early 2000s).

#2- Can this judgement be placed on my credit report now? The garnishee shows a company that I no longer work for but I would like this to be rectified before they contact my current company.

#3- If I can't dispute, will the law office that is respresenting the creditor agree to settle?

Thanks in advance for your assistance!
 
Since you dont have a receipt then you might need to accept the fact you didnt pay it. Unless your bank has record of it but i doubt they keep records over 7 years.

If this is the case, then I suggest this plan of action:

You need to have your parents pull their credit bureau report. This can be done online . Get what is called a 'tri merge' report which will encompass all 3 bureaus (Equifax, Experian Trans-Union). On this there should be the judgement.

In order to get a judgement the creditor would have had to go to court. Some payday loan places tried to get around this by getting the borrowers to sign an 'automatic garnishment' form if they bounced their check. The courts threw out the practice so go see if its some scam like that first.

If there is a judgement then your parents would know because they lost in court. However, there are such things as 'default judgments' where the creditor served your folks but they did not show up for various reasons. This happens a lot to folks who owe money and cant pay. They just ignore it.

Usually, judgments only last 10 years. Then the creditor has the task of 'refiling' to continue the judgment. However, I am not privy to each states law regarding statute of limitations on judgement and renewal timelines.

What you might be dealing with is a collection agency purchasing old debts in bulk for pennies on the dollar. They buy $100,000 worth of debt for $1000 or so and then proceed to send letters to see how many bites they get. Its a dubious but fairly lucrative practice.

In your case, the agency wants you to settle. They have no idea if you paid or owe it . All they got is some print out of the original debt on a huge sheet. Call the agency and ask them to send you the court order of garnishment. My bet is you never hear from them again.
 
snortle said:
Since you dont have a receipt then you might need to accept the fact you didnt pay it. Unless your bank has record of it but i doubt they keep records over 7 years.

If this is the case, then I suggest this plan of action:

You need to have your parents pull their credit bureau report. This can be done online . Get what is called a 'tri merge' report which will encompass all 3 bureaus (Equifax, Experian Trans-Union). On this there should be the judgement.

In order to get a judgement the creditor would have had to go to court. Some payday loan places tried to get around this by getting the borrowers to sign an 'automatic garnishment' form if they bounced their check. The courts threw out the practice so go see if its some scam like that first.

If there is a judgement then your parents would know because they lost in court. However, there are such things as 'default judgments' where the creditor served your folks but they did not show up for various reasons. This happens a lot to folks who owe money and cant pay. They just ignore it.

Usually, judgments only last 10 years. Then the creditor has the task of 'refiling' to continue the judgment. However, I am not privy to each states law regarding statute of limitations on judgement and renewal timelines.

What you might be dealing with is a collection agency purchasing old debts in bulk for pennies on the dollar. They buy $100,000 worth of debt for $1000 or so and then proceed to send letters to see how many bites they get. Its a dubious but fairly lucrative practice.

In your case, the agency wants you to settle. They have no idea if you paid or owe it . All they got is some print out of the original debt on a huge sheet. Call the agency and ask them to send you the court order of garnishment. My bet is you never hear from them again.
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Thank you! I actually was unclear in my original post before it was on my parents door because that was my address in college 12 yrs ago. It is in my name. I pulled my credit report today (from each bureau) and it is not listed. I have no judgements. I will reach out to the agency as suggested and find out what is really going on. The court has no active judgment and it is not on my credit report so I am assuming the creditor may have "refiled" as you suggested.
 
legalhelp23 said:
Thank you! I actually was unclear in my original post before it was on my parents door because that was my address in college 12 yrs ago. It is in my name. I pulled my credit report today (from each bureau) and it is not listed. I have no judgements. I will reach out to the agency as suggested and find out what is really going on. The court has no active judgment and it is not on my credit report so I am assuming the creditor may have "refiled" as you suggested.
Click to expand...

You are welcome. More likely a collection agency bought a 'list' off creditors and your name was on there. If you ask them for a copy of the original judgement they fold like tents.
 
legalhelp23 said:
Thank you! I actually was unclear in my original post before it was on my parents door because that was my address in college 12 yrs ago. It is in my name. I pulled my credit report today (from each bureau) and it is not listed. I have no judgements. I will reach out to the agency as suggested and find out what is really going on. The court has no active judgment and it is not on my credit report so I am assuming the creditor may have "refiled" as you suggested.
Click to expand...


Be very careful, very careful.the judgment may already be dead, if the holder didn't refile it properly.
In VA a judgmemt is only good for TEN years.

The judgment you asked about is 12 years old and you see nothing to indicate its still valid.
It likely expired and the holder is attempting to trick you into paying on an expired judgment.


http://www.judgmentenforcementagency.net/Virginia_Judgment_Enforcement.html
 

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