By:Â Robert J. Nahoum
We have noted a remarkable uptick in the assignments of judgments – a debt buying practice where debt buyers purchase portfolios of old default judgments which have lain dormant for years. In particular, we have observed the infamous New York debt buyer Erin Capital Management and their affiliated law firm Eltman, Eltman & Cooper dusting off old judgments obtained from other creditors to see if they can shake some profit loose from unsuspecting consumers.
In traditional debt buyer cases, debt buyers have trouble proving their cases because they often lack the paper worked needed to demonstrate that they were assigned ownership of the debt and that the consumer owes what they claim. In judgment assignment cases, the judgment buyer need not worry about these short comings because the judgment has already been obtained by a predecessor creditor. But, in the case of default judgments where the consumer can successfully challenge the default, the debt buyer must make its case. Judgment buyer cases are usually so old there is no hope for the judgment buyer to come up with the needed proof.
In one recent such case, a client of The Law Offices of Robert J. Nahoum was threatened with a wage garnishment on a 17 year old judgment that Eltman, Eltman & Cooper claimed had been assigned to its client the notorious debt buyer LVNV Funding. Problem for the judgment buyers – our client had never been served with the summons and complaint. Faced with the choice of protracted litigation or cutting their losses, Eltman, Eltman & Cooper and LVNV Funding agreed to withdraw the wage garnishment and vacate the default judgment.
If you need help settling or defending a debt collection law suit, stopping harassing debt collectors or suing a debt collector, contact us today to see what we can do for you.
The Law Offices of Robert J. Nahoum, P.C
(845) 232-0202
www.nahoumlaw.com
info@nahoumlaw.com