Our firm was retained by an elderly client who was frantic that Cohen and Slamowitz had frozen her bank account. We investigated and found that Citibank, the original creditor had been able to obtain a default judgment against our client in New York County Civil Court for about $26,000. The problem was that our client had moved to New Jersey years before the action was filed and never had any actual notice. She was widowed as her husband had died after a long battle with cancer and her only income was social security funds. However, she shared a bank account with her brother who had about $10,000 of his funds in the account when it was levied.
Our client had previously retained an attorney in the New York area that promised to resolve the situation for her but never even contacted Cohen & Slamowitz. We quickly contacted Cohen & Slamowitz and told them that we would be filing an Order to Show Cause to vacate her judgment unless they immediately agree to vacate the judgment against our client because they never obtained proper jurisdiction in this case due to a lack of service CPLR 5015(a)(4), since she was a New Jersey resident at the time she was served. We also suggested that would potentially file an FDCPA action against them for filing this action in the incorrect venue. Cohen and Slamowitz agreed to vacate the judgment and the matter itself was settled out of court for $9,000 or 66% off of the total balance.