Garnishment Harassment of relatives and old debt

[lba1]

In the early 2000 I had a credit card that I could not pay due to the high interest and lose of job.
After my investigation the other day, it appears that a collection company bought my debt and in 2009 they filed papers against me. The public court documents showed that they had a wrong address, so I was not aware of the case. Since I was not in court, on 2009/7/15 they got a default judgment for the full amount of $5K card + $10K in fees.
On June 15, 2014, my 77 year old mother got a letter from the bank telling her that there is a Garnishment - NY restriction notice on her bank account. She lives in Pennsylvanian and I live in New York. The only connection that I am aware is that I am a death beneficiary on her account.
My finances still are not that good to afford $2K retainer and $250+/h or monthly payments, so I am not sure what to do. For one, what can I do to stop them harassing my mom? Two, is what they did to my mom legal? What possible course of action do I have? Is there any agency that helps in this type of situation? I feel that I am not in a unique position.

 

[army judge]

Your mom should speak with her bank ASAP. Tell them the debt was never hers. Tell them the debt scavenger made a big mistake. She should then contact an attorney. Yes, she's a victim, but many attorneys will take her case. She is about to receive far more than they want to scam from you.

When was the last time you made a payment on that debt. If it's been 2006, the SOL,protects you. That debt is no,longer collectable. In fact, if it's been 2009, the law might still protect you.

Read this:

http://nedap.org/hotline/dcbasics.html

Generally the SOL in NY is six years, but it could be three due to a recent court ruling. Read the article.