[CyberLaw]

Hi to all and let me start by saying this site has been a great source of knowledge and with the help it provides. I am still reading and with much I need to learn, I wanted to get my story out here so would have a better understanding to the actions I should be taking.

With that said, below is an overview of the history and my findings to date. In summery - Back in 2003 I received notice that a judgment had been filed to collect full payment for a doctor’s visit. The case was later dropped as I was not at fault; however as I have recently learned for the past 5 years my credit still shows the Judgment as unpaid as either the Attorney did not File the update or the Court misplaced it.

Background

Since getting out of the USMC in 1999, I have maintained good credit with an excellent payment history and have worked hard to do so. The only real ‘mark’ on my credit was from a judgment back in August of 2000 ($1000) because not everyone was happy with my divorce. It was paid on the Day of Judgment in full, and for the most part is unrelated other than it being referenced below.

Recent History

I was recently applying for credit on a large dollar item (>$20K) and while I was approved, I also received an interest rate well above the standard range. While I have received some elevated rates in the past, I always figured it was due to a Judgment back in 2000 (see background). However with it now being 8 years after that case, I perused in finding out the reason and was told that it was due to a previous Judgment within the past 5 years.

I searched my files (personal financial hard copies) for any reference of a Judgment and was only able to come up with one back in 2003, where I was asked to cover full payment of a Hospital visit, which at first I did not believe was causing this issue as the case was dropped (by the Hospital) due to the Hospital not billing my insurance. I actually have worked for the (non-billed) insurance carrier since 1999 and the insurance carrier is owned by the Hospital. After speaking with them and after them reviewing their case they not only realized that they did not bill their own insurance carrier (which they did and I was covered 100%), they also told me that did not want to peruse Judgment against one of their employees. Within days (back in 2003) I had received a letter from their Attorneys stating that the case had been dropped. So with being a happy employee, and while it was not a fun process to go though, I decided to leave well enough alone.

After further review with the lender it appeared that the ‘Judgment’ in question was the 2003 claim by the Hospital. At this point I decided to take a look at my credit and sure enough my credit showed that the Judgment on file was from the 2003 case by the Hospital.

Next Steps

So after seeing this judgment on my credit I decided to contact the Hospital to see what the (insert really bad word here) ‘heck’ was going on. I spoke with the Hospital billing administration department and was told that the only record they had was that the Judgment had been dropped back in 2003. After checking back with the credit agency I was told that the Court was updating the report as an unpaid Judgment. And while writing this, I am wondering if there is a warrant out for me? I will check on that later…

Next I contacted the Court to see why it was showing as a Judgment and spoke directly with the County Clerk that handles processing of updates and was told that they had never received any update to the case being dismissed. When I asked her how there could be a Judgment when no case ever took place, she told me I would need to contact the Law Firm that represented the Hospital in the case. I was able to obtain the contact info as now the ‘Firm’ was the only thing standing between me and good credit…

Upon contacting the Law Firm I spoke with a Clerk who was able to pull up the file to which she stated they showed that the judgment was satisfied. When I told her that it was still showing on my credit, she told me they could ‘resend’ a copy of the satisfaction letter to the court. I then asked if she could as well send one to me by mail and by fax, she was a little hesitant at first to fax it, however after I offered to drive the 2 hour trip to her office to pick one up she agreed to fax a copy to my office. I received a copy of the letter from them which had the court’s filling letterhead and here is the kicker, the letter was dated 06/20/2008 which was the date of my call on Friday. The letter had a statement that the judgment was satisfied back in August of 2003!

Shock Sets In

So after seeing the letter on Friday it just then occurred to me (not slow, was just on the warpath to get it fixed) that due to the mishandling of the update to the Court or the Court mishandling the letter and not updating the credit agencies everything I have purchased or tried to purchase since 2003 was affected by this. So 2 vehicles, recent mortgage preapproval, 2 or 3 personal loans, Credit Cards, other purchases on Credit and now this >$20K purchase were all at increased interest rates because of a case that was dropped back in 2003… Not to mention the embarrassment of applying for credit for a vehicle back in March that I decided not to get due to the high interest rate has all been due to this error! I even checked back with the most recent lender that stated in an email that I had excellent payment history and that the only real blemish worth noting was this outstanding judgment.

Recourse

I have never seen proof of the firm ever updating the court. I was planning to contact the Firm again today to ask if I can get a copy of the 2003 letter that the court would have sent to their Firm, however before I call them, I figured I would check around to see if maybe I should contact my own Attorney to see if they should be handling this in representing me for the Defamation of Character, an untold amount of damages not only paid in higher interest rates, but the sheer embarrassment I had with every lender I have dealt with previously that must have thought I had this unpaid outstanding debt. This was never even supposed to make it onto my credit. Not only that, but I will continue to pay because of their mistake for the life of all of these loans. Also, this will stay on my credit for at least another 2 years if not indefinitely…

Any input is welcome as I am trying to figure out my next steps and at the same time realizing that what is most likely a mistake by a Law Firm has wound up damaging my credit to an almost unthinkable amount of money and personal shame for an unknown amount of time to come…

I am still working with the Court and Credit agency to get this fixed, however as of today I have only been told by the court that they will update as soon as they have the letter from the Attorney’s office and the Credit Agency stating there is nothing they can do until they receive notice from the Court.

What does everyone think?

Still in Shock - Dan

[jlynn]

Dan, did you have legal representation when you were first sued by the hospital back in 2003?

[CyberLaw]

I did not, actually there was no need to as it never got that far. When I first received the notice I called the Firm representing the Hospital to get more details and after I told them about the Hospital never billing insurance they said they would check with their client (the Hospital) and the next thing I knew the whole thing was being dropped and the Hospital even called me to let me know as well. They basically apologized without saying they were sorry.

A day or two later I received a letter stating that was being dropped, unfortunately for me; I never gave it another thought. I checked with the Court and there was never a hearing or anything that would cause me to suspect that something took place.

I don’t plan to go after the Hospital as I don’t feel they are at fault, however I am suspect of the Law Firm and from what I have been told, this is not uncommon that someone get’s the shaft because an attorney does not follow up with the Court.

I am not usually one to even think of taking someone to court, however I do feel like I was wrongfully treated and that I am paying a good amount of money and having my credit score and standing take a huge hit for someone elses mistake...

[jlynn]

The problem is, you had a responsibility to follow up directly with the court after it got to lawsuit. Never take the opposing side's word for it. If you never even answered the original complaint because you assumed the matter was handled, then there would have been no hearing - the default would have been awarded on the original filings. Secondly, if the law firm did not continue to pursue this to judgment, then the case would have been dismissed not a default judgment awarded.

You need to get all the documentation from the judgment file at the courthouse - not from opposing counsel again, to see exactly what transpired.

Whether you were wrongfully treated or out-lawyered might be a question for the court. I don't mean to be harsh, its just a simple fact.

[Enigma]

This would be a fun case to work, and be lucrative to you and the attorney.

I understand the facts to be:

1. You received services from the hospital.
2. Hospital failed to bill insurance.
3. Hospital retains counsel to file lawsuit.
4. You contact hospital, they say sorry, they drop lawsuit.
5. You pay higher rates on loans but not sure why.

I HOPE you have all this in writing.

When a law firm files a lawsuit and there is no action on the lawsuit, generally a year, the judge will dismiss it "For Lack of Prosecution". Therefor there would be no judgment entered. What the law firm should have done was file a Notice of Dismissal.

You should pay a visit to the courthouse, have the clerk copy every page in the file. Do a time line of what has transpired.

There is where the fun starts. If you have it in writing from the hospital that they told their law firm to drop the lawsuit BEFORE you had to file your answer, AND that was not done, start smiling.

Write to the law firm. Explain that they filed a lawsuit against you on xx/xx/xx. You had until xx/xx/xx to file your answer. Plaintiff told them (law firm) to drop the lawsuit on xx/xx/xx (before you had to file an answer), but they failed to follow through.

Since you are the type that prefers to settle than litigate, you will settle for $xxxxx.00 and total deletion from all credit bureaus any and all record of the judgment. In the alternative, you will hire counsel and an forensic accountant to calculate the increased interest you've had to incur over the years, etc. And, you want to know the name of their malpractice insurance carrier.

[CyberLaw]

Originally Posted by jlynn

You need to get all the documentation from the judgment file at the courthouse - not from opposing counsel again, to see exactly what transpired.

Whether you were wrongfully treated or out-lawyered might be a question for the court. I don't mean to be harsh, its just a simple fact.

I don't think you are being harsh and I think it's a great idea to get all of the info from the court. This is one of the reasons I posted here was for advice just like that!

As well, I should still have a copy of the letter I signed accepting the dismissal and while I understand your line of thought, I have a hard time believing that if the Hospital dropped the case that the attorney could just continue with the judgment against their clients will. Not to mention that the attorney had no problem sending me a letter stating that it was satisfied back in 2003. If they were trying to out maneuver me, why agree and send me proof 5 years later that it was dropped? According to the court I still owed money on the original judgment (that was dropped).

“if the law firm did not continue to pursue this to judgment, then the case would have been dismissed not a default judgment awarded.” --- Not true, clerical errors by court clerks happens more than you would think and I have seen it happen to a close friend where he lost in court and the outcome was filed on record that he won. While I can’t say for sure that it did or did not happen happen here, however I am very suspicious that either the attorney was negligent or the Court made a clerical error.

When I stated that I did not give it another thought, I mean in regards to checking my credit (sorry for any confusion) I did assume that the court would not report to the credit agencies that I owned money on a hearing that never took place regarding a filing that was dropped.

Guess it’s time to pay for credit monitoring and call an attorney for legal advice, because you can be wronged by no doing of your own… I understand that it’s easy to think that because I don’t practice law that I must be easy to take advantage of and that a Court would never make a mistake, both could not be further from the truth…

[CyberLaw]

[quote=Enigma;69535]This would be a fun case to work, and be lucrative to you and the attorney.

I understand the facts to be:

1. You received services from the hospital.
2. Hospital failed to bill insurance.
3. Hospital retains counsel to file lawsuit.
4. You contact hospital, they say sorry, they drop lawsuit.
5. You pay higher rates on loans but not sure why.

I HOPE you have all this in writing.

QUOTE]

6. Insurance company has record of the services not being billed until after the suit was filed.


I have to get the info from the court to see what they have, however I can not thank you enough for your thoughts, mine are not very clear right now as I keep thinking of everyone I have done business with that must have thought about that issue showing on my credit.

I should be able to visit the court tomorrow and see what they have...

I will post back,

Thanks again!

[Pale Rider]

Enigma,

What is your opinion on SOL for a cause of action in a case like this? Does the SOL renew or start each time the consumer is harmed by the high interest due to the previous action of the judgment? Does SOL start at the time of judgment or when the consumer discovered the problems with the credit file and high interest?

[jlynn]

Originally Posted by CyberLaw

Not to mention that the attorney had no problem sending me a letter stating that it was satisfied back in 2003.

Aww, in lawyer-ease "satisfied" means paid. Dismissed means the suit was dropped at some point before its end result.

Get the paperwork from the court, and listen to Enigma.

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by Pale Rider

Enigma,

What is your opinion on SOL for a cause of action in a case like this? Does the SOL renew or start each time the consumer is harmed by the high interest due to the previous action of the judgment? Does SOL start at the time of judgment or when the consumer discovered the problems with the credit file and high interest?

Any FDCPA claims are moot - one year from breach.

FCRA was two years, but the FCTA revisions added an additional three years for a total of five, again from breach. I beleive for each occurrence. There is case law that states that each month it is reported is its own COA.

Now as to malpractice, that would be state specific, but generally two - four years, and generally from the date of discovery.

[CyberLaw]

Sounds Like I have the start of a plan.

I did take satisfied for meaning that it was dropped back in 2003, after reading up on the subject I suspected that it meant it was filed as paid.

I placed a call to the Court today asking if I could get copies of a case file from 2003. I was told it would take some time, but if I could come in tomorrow they could have it ready to copy when I filled out the forms. $1 for the first 5 pages and $0.25 for each additional may be the best $$ I have ever spent.

I am wondering if after I get the copy from the court if I should get a copy of the file from the attorney. Think it would be worth asking?

It gets better too. I was discussing the whole issue with the wife (better memory than I) and she reminded me of something very interesting; the hospital bill stated in the case was for a workers’ compensation issue related to a work injury. I was injured when working for the Hospital that filed the judgment, no wonder they said to drop it. Oh, and I still work for the Hospital.

I will update again after I have read the court papers... Thanks again, THIS SITE ROCKS!

[Enigma]

Plaintiff counsel cannot give you the file. Reason(s), attorney client privilege, work product, etc.

Now the Plaintiff can.

[CyberLaw]

OK, so I have the paperwork now and still trying to figure out what all of it means, however from what I can see the attorney never updated the case and the Court just entered the Judgment.

Here is what the ‘Register of Actions’ shows:

REGISTER OF ACTIONS: Status: CLOSED

JAN OF 03 SUMM & COMP FILED
FILING FEE PAID
CHECK TENDERED
COMPLAINT FILED
SUMM & COMP ISSUED
FEB OF 03 SUMM & COMP PERSONALLY SERVED
MAR OF 03 DEFAULT ISSUED
JULY OF 03 JUDGMENT BY DEFAULT ENTERED

There are other documents as well, however there are only two from the Other Attorney, one is the original filing and the other is the recent document (dated last Friday) stating Satisfaction by party in 2003. Unless the above states something that I am missing.

So there is no filing by the attorney back in 2003 to close and from the sounds of it, the Court just entered the judgment for the attorney. There is no court statement or statement by the Judge or any reference of any hearing.

I am still looking for my documents and planning to contact the Hospital for a letter agreeing that the case was too be dropped. I should also be able to get documentation about the hospital visit that started all of this as well…

Thoughts?

[jlynn]

I don't that a letter will resolve the issue - you might have to motion to vacate the judgment. What state are you in? You may need to consult an attorney.

I'm 99 9/10% sure the CRAs are not going to delete it based on a letter. The hospital is not the one reporting it. You have to get rid of the public record.