Our client contacted us after he learned that his bank account was frozen in the state of Texas where he resides. We were able to quickly establish that the collection law firm of Mel S. Harris had obtained a default judgment against our client back in 2006 in New York. What made this stranger was that our client stated that he had never lived in the state of New York! The judgment was for about $11,000 and they had frozen even more than that figure. We provided Mel S. Harris with multiple documents proving that our client never lived in New York during the alleged service period or when the default judgment was entered against him.
The client was angry as this judgment against him was blatantly in violation of the FDCPA. We immediately contacted Mel S. Harris to notify them to vacate the judgment against our client and dismiss the case against him. We specifically stated that we intended to file a FDCPA action under 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(2), § 1692e(8), & § 1692e(10), against LR Credit and and Mel. S. Harris due to misleading and deceptive practices including but not limited to improper service of process and improper venue.
Although Mel S. Harris offered a very low settlement offer, we advised our client that there was no reason to accept as we intended to have this case dismissed and file a separate federal action for damages. Mel S. Harris immediately decided to both voluntarily vacate the judgment and dismiss the case against our client.