Sued by Midland Credit

[Jwolfe]

My guess is its to late now but I hate this company so I will ask anyway. about a year ago I got a letter from the sheriff saying I was being sued by midland for a debt of about $1000 I didn't know what it was but called them and payed it just to get rid of it. At the time I ask the rep for info about it so I could know what it was and she said "all we have is the paper with your name, address, SSN, the amount that was due and the account number" I just payed it and let it go.

Well now at work I get my check a few weeks back and it was garnished 25% I call pay roll to find out and they say that Midland sued me me and won for a debt of $5000. I go to the court and they give me all the info and I am getting it taken care of next month when they set a new court date for me since I was never served the papers for this one. Well my question goes back to the first one I payed, is there a way for me to do anything to sue them and get that money back as a not my debt after the fact of paying it? I had 4 days until the court date when I got the papers about it so payed out more out of fear right then. I do not believe this debt to have been mine and it is not on my credit report either.

[Hal Jordan]

Perhaps I'm a little slow today but clarify some things for me...

You were sued by midland and when you were served you paid $1000 and they told you the debt was paid in full?

You were just garnished and the total for that garnishment will be $5000?

Do you have proof that you paid them $1000?

Have you tried contacting Midland about having the garnishment stopped because you paid them before the ruling?

This is a tough one and I hope it doesn't come down to petitioning the court to set aside a ruling or dismissing a judgement. I hope you didn't just get screwed out of $5K

Not that I'm trying to steer people away from this site but www dot creditinfocenter dot com has a legal forum with a few lawyers that answer questions on a daily basis. You may wanna pop in there and see if one of them knows something if you can't get a good answer here.

Lian I think is the only Attorney here and he seems pretty bright so maybe he may be able to tell you also.

[Jwolfe]

I probably explained it poorly, this is 2 different cases. I feel that both are not correct or mine and I have already got the court to set a new hearing date for the $5000 judgment that was given to them by default when I was not served the court papers to show.

The $1000 one I do not believe was mine either but I got court papers to appear and got them just a few days before the court date so I called midland that day and payed them the $1000. What I want to know is if there is a way at all for me to sue them for the $1000 that I did pay them if I can prove the debt was not mine?

Hope that is easier to understand.

[Lian]

The $1000 one I do not believe was mine either but I got court papers to appear and got them just a few days before the court date so I called midland that day and payed them the $1000. What I want to know is if there is a way at all for me to sue them for the $1000 that I did pay them if I can prove the debt was not mine?

Payment of the debt is not legal admission of its validity, particularly as an individual consumer without adjudication of the matter in court. Yes, you could still bring legal action, but you are going into it with a cloud of apparent contradiction hanging over you, and they will play on that before the judge.

A lot would depend, in my opinion, on the strength of your case in proving that the debt was not yours. What will be your evidence in court? Have you at least filed a police report (FCRA 603(q) calls this an "identity theft report") as support for your allegation? That is the minimum I think you would need in court to support an "account not mine" assertion, absent any other documentation. You could just bring legal action, and then rely upon the discovery process before trial in an attempt to secure their supporting documentation. It is difficult to prove a negative.

[Jwolfe]

Originally Posted by Lian

Payment of the debt is not legal admission of its validity, particularly as an individual consumer without adjudication of the matter in court. Yes, you could still bring legal action, but you are going into it with a cloud of apparent contradiction hanging over you, and they will play on that before the judge.

A lot would depend, in my opinion, on the strength of your case in proving that the debt was not yours. What will be your evidence in court? Have you at least filed a police report (FCRA 603(q) calls this an "identity theft report") as support for your allegation? That is the minimum I think you would need in court to support an "account not mine" assertion, absent any other documentation. You could just bring legal action, and then rely upon the discovery process before trial in an attempt to secure their supporting documentation. It is difficult to prove a negative.

Thank you for the reply, I have not filed any police report because I honestly know nothing of the debt other than the paper the officer brought me to my house that said I needed to appear in court. I called midland at the time and asked what the debt was for and they told me "I cant tell you as I do not know, we got it from "xyz" company and we have your name, address, ammount due and account number but no other information" I knew no better so I said ok and payed it at the time. Even though it is not on my credit report and payed off can I still send and request a validation letter? I mean I know I can send it but do they still have to reply? If so that is what I planned to use as the documentation for it, the papers they send me that are not able to support that the debt was mine. I don't mind trying and if I lose I lose but the idea that they get $1000 from me on something that I didnt owe and was told by them that they didn't have enough info on it being my debt really burns me up.

[Lian]

You can certainly send a debt validation letter now, but if they choose to respond at all, their reply will be short and sweet.

"We validate that the debt is paid, and the amount due is $0."

That would be correct and adequate verification under any definition.