Consumer complaint received 2017-09-04
Company: Mountain Land Collections, Inc.
State: OH
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: I do not know
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive enough information to verify debt

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX upon applying for a mortgage pre approval the lender notified me of a judgement on my credit report from the state of XXXX that was dated XX/XX/XXXX. I had no knowledge of this judgement as I had not received any notification, in fact, my family and I had relocated to XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. A change of addrsss was listed with the USPS. I contacted the creditor listed on my credit report, Mountainland Collections in hopes of gaining insight on the matter. I was transferred to a manager who then referred me to XXXX XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX. I explained to the collection manager that I had no idea what the judgement was for or that it even existed, I requested copies of documentation so that I could verify that the debt did in fact belong to me. She told me no, she would not provide that information to be because I was already served with papers back in XXXX, if I wanted documentation I would need to contact the courts. I explained to her that I had not received any summons or otherwise from a process server, she proceeded to tell me that my husband was served with the papers. I told her that was not true, neither of us had any knowledge of the situation nor had we ever been served. She proceeded to ask me how I intended to satisfy the judgement, I told her again that I needed to verify that the debt belonged to me and if so I would gladly make arrangements. I asked a second time to have the documentation from the original creditor and she refused. She became insulting and told me that if I were a responsible individual that paid my bills I would not be in this situation and she will be looking into options on collecting despite my living in another state. I finally grew frustrated and ended the call, I then made multiple calls to the court system in XXXX, XXXX to find some sort of documentation or paper trail. I finally spoke to a clerk that gave me the name of the original creditor, she also informed me that the collection agency could not refuse to provide me with the documentation that I requested. On XXXX XXXX after reviewing my pay stub I saw that a garnishment was listed, I never received any notification of a garnishment nor had any knowledge of their intentions. I contacted payroll and was told that papers were served to my prior address, an address that I have not lived at for 5 years. It was only because of my payroll manager that I even received any documentation on the garnishment. I have no issue paying on a debt that is rightfully mine but when I have zero knowledge of the situation and nobody that is willing to provide me with supporting documentation there is a serious problem. In both instances I was not able to dispute the validity of the debt or actions taken because I was NEVER personally served or notified. Now I have a garnishment that is over 3 times the amount originally owed, a judgment on my credit report and 25 % of my pay check is being taken for a debt that I do n't even know belongs to me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation