Consumer complaint received 2018-11-21
Company: Klima, Peters & Daly, P.A.
State: MD
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Sued you without properly notifying you of lawsuit

Complaint:
This is the narrative from complaint number XXXX. Please see update in the second paragraph. 

On Monday XX/XX/XXXX, I attempted a minor transaction with my debit card and I was informed that the transaction was denied. When I called my bank, XXXX, to inquire about the declined transaction, I was informed that my account was frozen ( put on hold ), and I was given a number to call ( XXXX ) XXXX which was listed as XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. When I called the law firm, I was told that they were collecting a debt owned by XXXX  XXXX XXXX for an account attached to a checking account ending in XXXX. When I told them that I did not own any money to XXXX  XXXX XXXX, they said they would investigate this claim with their compliance department. The next day, they withdraw {$1500.00} from my bank account and attempted to withdraw an additional {$1500.00} on Wednesday ( today ), leaving my account in the arrears for {$1500.00} ( I had {$1500.00} in my account ). I spoke to a bank manager at XXXX and he and I called the creditors together and it was unclear what instrument ( credit card, loan, checking account ) they were collecting on and the representative said it was an old debt from XXXX that they couldn't collect on until now. I proceeded to go to XXXX XXXX  XXXX and I spoke with a bank officer who searched with the help of the home office to see if I had any unpaid debts or balances on past accounts. My bank accounts were paid in full when they were closed ; I opened a new account at XXXX. However, they did find an old credit card debt from XXXX which had a balance of approximately {$3000.00} which I settled for {$260.00} with the XXXX  XXXX XXXX. I was told that this debt may have been sold to a third party and 17 years later they collected the debt. Is this possible? I wasn't contacted, served papers, or issued a lien ; my account/assets were just frozen and seized. Please assist me. 

Update : I received ( incomplete ) validation of debt paperwork from XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX which in reality is a Public Accountant office. The paperwork is attached in this complaint. I believe the seizure of my property ( bank account ) was unfair because I was denied " procedural due process '' ; I was denied the right to notice and a full hearing. XXXX XXXX XXXX failed to contact me about their intention to sue me in court. They neither called me nor mailed me any correspondences. Since they were able to successfully contact my bank, no doubt through credit reports, they should have had access to my phone number and current address. Instead, they claimed that they mailed and had a process server deliver court papers to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, MD XXXX. I have not lived at this address since XXXX and shortly after XXXX, the building was condemned by XXXX County and left abandoned since XXXX. So how could they have mailed and served papers to an abandoned building? Assuming this is true, how could the clerk in the XXXX County Court House sign off on legal documents which was presented to a condemned and abandoned building that the county owns? I believe XXXX XXXX XXXX purposefully served papers to an abandoned building knowing that there would be no response and therefore no resistance and they willfully deceived the court house into validating their claim. What better way for unethical " lawyers '' to win a case than to exclude the opposition ( defendant )?  But in the end, I still don't understand how XXXX XXXX  XXXX could " re-animate '' a debt that was settled with XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX and the balance was written off. Is this a precedent for " Zombie debt '' - re-animating dead debt. If so, this is setting a very dangerous precedent for consumers. Please look into to this predatory and possibly illegal practice.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation