ALLEGED creditor froze acct w/ disability $ in it

[mykidsrall]

I was just notified by my bank that Sears froze my account for an alleged debt of $2800. I contacted my bank who provided me with a copy of a judgment from 12/1989. The bulk of the money in the acct was soc. sec. disability for myself & my minor child which I understand legally the bank can not freeze. The judgment has the county court from where I lived at that time yet I never appeared in court, was notified of a court date nor was given anything regarding this. I have never once been notified of any money due, nor has anything ever shown up on any credit report in years and years. I have lived in the same place for 9 years and have always had mailed forwarded prior to then. Can a creditor really go back 13 years? I assume at the time they filed this judgment they would have provided some documentation to the court. I certainly do not have receipts, check stubs or even bank statements from that long ago so I wouldn't even be able to prove I had paid this. Any advise???
Thank you.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Are you claiming you paid the amount? It doesn't appear that way and it sounds like you are saying that you can't check if you did or not. I'm assuming you knew about this debt prior to just now -- how long ago did you know? You can check the files in the court to see if the address that the service was sent is your address. If it is, then you will have a hard time denying that after dozens of notices were sent to you at your address, the post office lost them all. However, this might not be the case.

I'm not sure if this post was already answered elsewhere. A judgment doesn't just "go away" although there are rules with regard to execution (I believe a typical judgment in most states is good for 20 years but this can be renewed.) After all, wouldn't that mean that if people can avoid paying their bills they will get away with it? It's an awful conclusion that society cannot bear to allow.

With regard to social security, if you deposit money in a bank in a a general account, then it is just money that you have received. Sears could not garnish your social security check.