They came out of the blue looking for me to say I owed money on a debt that had been written off nearly 4 years ago. They had the name of an old collection agency, Palisades, where they said the debt originated from. They then kept contacting me and I followed the FTC guidelines that said said I could request full proof that the debt was still outstanding.in this case the FTC rules that they needed to follow to show that the debt was real, that they owned the debt, that I had actually signed and was a part of this debt was ignored.
When I asked for written proof they sent me a note showing my social security number, date of birth and my address. They declared that this was proof. The next day I was served with a notice that I was being sued for this debt. Upon speaking with their representative Krista Peterson, we agreed on a payment plan and she verbally said the suit was not going to be pursued, and I could disregard it.
I now find out that, even as I was making payments, they went through with the suit and got a default judgment because I didn't show up. I never got notice of the hearing and now (12/23/09) I find out that a judgment was issued against me in Feb! In response to a complaint I filed with the state of Oregon they said I had ignored the judgment for such a long time (several months) that I implicitly agreed with the judgment, even though I took their word that I was OK with them. The only reason I had even agreed to a payment plan was because the suit was on hold, and I could not afford to fight it. I would have gone to the hearing had I known they were quietly going to continue. I am now probably going to file bankruptcy since I am unemployed again, and have no assets. Having a judgement is going to make it hard to get a job in my field. I feel blind sided. It looks like I am not the only one who is a victim of these guys!
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