Served "Legal Papers" at doorstep by courier

Talk to the clerk at your county court house.  Call and explain this business.

Also, look to see if there is, anywhere on these pages, a signature from a judge.

Anyone can serve papers.  

Anyone can format 'fake boilerplate' for something 'pseudo-legit' as well.  But, if there has been a judgement entered against you, you need to know.

I think "Terry" and "I've been through this" have hit various nails right on the head here. I would guess that this scam involves a *real*, though groundless, lawsuit and the plaintiff is banking on a default judgement because the defendant doesn't show up or makes some other technical error.

As Resident 47 says, you need to treat this as real until proven otherwise. That really stinks, but it's how it is.

Process servers don't have to be dressed in any way. In many states, NY included, process servers need only be an 18+ resident not a party to a lawsuit. Sheriffs do serve papers, but most lawyers use the cheaper, more efficient private companies.

Call the court and make sure something hs been filed. Don't take the paperwork for granted if it has a lawyer's name on it.

Also, don't get too impressed with the internet oracle. There are lots of places to get good info, and creditinfocenter is one, but nothing beats competent legal advice. If the amount is significant, get thee to a lawyer, preferably a member of NACA,

www.ajp1law.com

I had this happen to me before. When I called they transferred me to a "detective" with the county I live in. He was pressing me to get a pre paid debit card to pay off the debt on certain days of the month. AS SOON AS I GOT OFF THE PHONE I CALLED THE POLICE and asked them about this detective so and so... no such guy on the force. They took the name, number and all the info I squeezed them for. The never called again. MAKE SURE YOU GET AS MUCH INFO FROM THEM AS YOU CAN!

In decades of scams like this coming to me, even one time a video store said I failed to return a tape, decades ago, and hounded me for years..  I simply file it in the trash!  It went away.  There is basically no such thing as a legit collections agency today!  They are all scumbags, and even if they pretend to be legit, like having an office and business license, etc.  They all break every law in the book!  On the one or two times I actually owed a small sum to a real business, I pay them directly, and NEVER NEVER give one ounce of info to ANY collections, NEVER give them a credit card number, for sure!  You will have the ID theft of your lifetime, and just admitting your name puts you at risk.

Not long ago, there was a lawyer in Ontario (yes, a bona fide legal weasal) associated with a collection agency (owner's wife), who used to send out stuff on non-preprinted letterhead, threatening legal action. That's what the threatening letter was printed on. Invariably, a copy of what looked like a Claim in Small Claims Court would be enclosed.

Collectors cannot threaten action they won't take here. But this numbskull did. She had no authorization from creditors to do it (collectors can't threaten legal action unless they already secured authorization from the creditor). This was one scumbag collection firm who tried this.

It was all over the news here. She was brought before the Law Society of Upper Canada and may have lost her license to practice law. If that didn't occur, she got severely censured for her actions.

As others have pointed out, if this is a legit suit, there will be a docket or file number and the jurisdiction the matter will be or has been heard in (the Court or arbitrator it's before). It's really doubtful they have a judgment.

Sounds like a scam pressure tactic. You can report the agency for harassment (in Canada it can be deemed criminal harassment which carries jail time).

Good luck.

So what was the final outcome of the papers?  Just curious....

There may not be a "final outcome", save for a real FDCPA lawsuit to counter a fake creditor suit, if the "papers" were a ruse.

} lawyer in Ontario .... with a collection agency (owner's wife)

Can we say "conflict of interest" or "racketeers"?

>>> } lawyer in Ontario .... with a collection agency (owner's wife)

Can we say "conflict of interest" or "racketeers"? <<<

You can ***say*** it, but that doesn't necessarily make it the case here.

The terms in quotation marks are legal terms of art, having a meaning that may not be the same as those same terms used in casual conversation.  For example, I don't believe a lawyer representing his wife or a business owned separately by her is, all by itself, a conflict of interest.  There could be other circumstances that might make it so, however.

But you know what?  The cited case concerns Canadian law, which I know little of.  Certainly not enough to warrant my giving an opinion on what the attorney might have been disciplined for.

However, contrary to some people's beliefs down here in the states, I have found Canadians to be reasonably civilized (with the possible exception of a mayor of one particularly large city).  I'm sure they have done, or will do (as the case may be) the right thing.

Your caution is correct. I was being a little facetious. I would still be unnerved to find that an opposing debt collector and its hired attorney were literally bedfellows. Worst case imagined, the lady of the fraud house lobs a "serve you at work" threat and teases about how she *might* be able to talk the lawyer out of suing if one would only agree to a payment plan. Meanwhile, as is common for this scheme, the hubby attorney is not involved in or even aware of that debt price haggling. Later over dinner they share snickers at the trembling pigeons they plucked all day.

Yes, the bedfellows may start within networks used. After some odd calls received disclosed as http://www.bbb.org/minnesota/business-reviews ... ins-mn-96035573 with mention of being part of http://www.bbb.org/west-florida/business-revi ... urg-fl-12000431 Funny also, mentioned within a partially disclosed debt collector call to a family member http://www.lexisnexis.com/backgroundchecks/business/skip-tracing.aspx All part of this network http://www.symphonytg.com/ I doubt that they learned anything through this civil action http://mpslawyers.com/lexisnexis-settles-accurint-lawsuit-for-13-5-million/ Ok, maybe they've learned better acts of deception and debt collector tactics!

>>> Meanwhile, as is common for this scheme, the hubby attorney is not involved in or even aware of that debt price haggling. Later over dinner they share snickers at the trembling pigeons they plucked all day. <<<

Sounds like a reboot of "LA Law."

OOps forgot one reference to Skip tracing, Florida, Boca Raton non disclosure calls. http://www.bbb.org/south-east-florida/busines ... ton-fl-31002638

I think that is 10 business days. Weekends and holidays don't ever count because the courts are not in session. If they really meant 10 calendar days they would be forced to date the document giving you the exact day to respond... then respond on that day in person!  If the case is not on the court's docket, how were you supposed to respond to? By sending them $$????  NOT ME... I would never pay a third party. I always pay the original co. If they sold the debt then it will be their responsibility to pay back the buyer of the debt. This third party could be a criminal posing as a collector.