- Jurisdiction
- Texas
In 2012 I was sued by a debt collection law firm for a credit card debt that I defaulted on. I paid a lawyer to settle the debt and subsequently paid the agreed to settlement amount over a 13 month period. I sent these payments to the debt collection law firm by money order as (advised by my lawyer) so they couldn't track any personal bank account of mine. As per the rule 11 agreement I signed, that firm would file a notice of non-suit/dismissal when all funds were received. After I sent the last payment, I left several voice mails to confirm that the last payment was received, and never received any response. My lawyer had since left the firm and his replacement told me not to worry, As long as my payments were made everything should be fine.
Hindsight moment, I totally should have been worrying and pushing to make sure this was officially completed. Apparently, it was far from completed.
Fast forward to 2018 and my law firm contacts me that they received a notice of trial...from a completely different debt collection law firm for this same debt. I told them I paid the debt, sent the payment dates and copies of the money order stubs. A week later, they come back to me and tell me that the debt collection law firm that I was paying had filed bankruptcy, closed (what!) and that there was no way of contacting them to confirm my payments. So basically, this 'new' case was legit because the previous settlement was never closed - it just appears as though I never made the payments because that law firm never confirmed it. I don't understand that at all, and my law firm won't explain anything else to me without another $2000 retainer. I'm not very confident of their ability to represent me and finish this case appropriately at this point.
I found this site and here I am asking for some much needed advice on what to do next. Should I try to get copies of the cashed money orders? Will it even make a difference at this point if I prove that I paid it already to a now non-existent debt collection law firm? Am I pretty much forced to settle with this new debt collection law firm? Start over with a different law firm? Is there anything I can do or paperwork I can file myself that would make any difference? Any advice is much appreciated, thanks in advance.
Hindsight moment, I totally should have been worrying and pushing to make sure this was officially completed. Apparently, it was far from completed.
Fast forward to 2018 and my law firm contacts me that they received a notice of trial...from a completely different debt collection law firm for this same debt. I told them I paid the debt, sent the payment dates and copies of the money order stubs. A week later, they come back to me and tell me that the debt collection law firm that I was paying had filed bankruptcy, closed (what!) and that there was no way of contacting them to confirm my payments. So basically, this 'new' case was legit because the previous settlement was never closed - it just appears as though I never made the payments because that law firm never confirmed it. I don't understand that at all, and my law firm won't explain anything else to me without another $2000 retainer. I'm not very confident of their ability to represent me and finish this case appropriately at this point.
I found this site and here I am asking for some much needed advice on what to do next. Should I try to get copies of the cashed money orders? Will it even make a difference at this point if I prove that I paid it already to a now non-existent debt collection law firm? Am I pretty much forced to settle with this new debt collection law firm? Start over with a different law firm? Is there anything I can do or paperwork I can file myself that would make any difference? Any advice is much appreciated, thanks in advance.