Unlike many of the various debt buyers that we defend consumers against such as Midland Funding or LVNV Funding, it can be more difficult to defend against original creditors like Discover Bank. We have seen that Discover is one of the more aggressive creditors out there whom will pursue consumers by means of lawsuit to obtain judgment instead of selling the debt like other original creditor’s such as Citibank or Chase. They also take an aggressive stance when it comes to litigation and settlement. A consumer really must put up a good fight against them. In this case, our client found out about a $13,000 judgment against him when he received a notice of Wage Garnishment from Gregg Bienstock, one of the City Marshals of New York. That notice gives a consumer 20 days to resolve the issue before garnishment can commence. Our client was desperate to avoid any kind of garnishment at work due to the embarrassment and financial distress that it can cause.
Our client was never properly served in this matter as the affidavit of service stated that a person aged 35, with dark hair and weighing 170 pounds had been served meanwhile our client was roughly 60 years old 230 pounds and bald! Unfortunately, this type of service is very common and called sewer service. Discover, as they often do had retained the debt collection law firm of Selip and Stylianou who were formerly known as Cohen and Slamowitz to obtain and enforce the judgment against our client. Once they realized that a motion to vacate judgment would be filed based on the ridiculous affidavit of service, they voluntarily vacated the judgment against our client and offered a settlement of 4,500 over one year which is rare for Discover. Usually, obtaining even 50% off the total amount of the debt is a battle with Discover but the client saved $8,500 in this scenario!