Judgement obtained w/out notice

[Chris4avon]

My husband recently got a judgement against him and his wages garnished this week without any notice. The collection agency in question has not contacted us since we wrote to them disputing the bill and asking for more information (it was a credit card bill--Providian--which we paid through a settlement in 2001 with a credit counseling agency). They never provided the information about what constituted the supposed $5000 balance due--when we requested info they just sent back a notarized letter basically saying "because we say so". I told them that due to an issue with identity theft a few years ago I wanted actual proof and it was my understanding that they are required by law to provide it. That was a year ago and we never heard anything from them.

Then about a week ago we got a notice of judgement obtained against us when we didn't even know it was going to court! The notice states that we were served papers, which is completely untrue. I left a message for the law firm and told them that we never received anything from them, and were not served, and have disputed the amount. The next thing I know, my husbsand has a garnishment of $600 against his paycheck, with $600 more due to come out each pay period!!

What can I do to fight this--I thought we would have opportunity to defend ourselves against this. Is there anywhere to file a complaint to get this stopped until we really can have a hearing?

Thanks!

Chris

 

[NYClex]

You would have to file a motion for relief from judgment with the court that entered it on the grounds of inadequacy of notice. But I would suggest to get an attorney to do that for you.