Consumer complaint received 2017-02-25
Company: Roosen, Varchetti & Olivier, PLLC
State: MI
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.)
Issue: Taking/threatening an illegal action
Sub-issue: Sued w/o proper notification of suit

Complaint:
I have filed an " Objection To the Garnishment '' & " A Motion to Set-Aside Judgment '' in the Michigan, XXXX County XXXX Court. The plaintiff failed to serve notice to me regarding an unenforceable old debt. The said debt was for unpaid fines that were issued on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. Prior to the fines being issued on the property it was abandoned and was forfeited to XXXX County for unpaid property taxes on XX/XX/XXXX ( please see Forfeiture Notice ). Therefore, I was unaware of any fines or judgments against the property because I no longer resided there due utilities being shut off and losing my job. My family and I moved in with family members, I applied for unemployment and food stamps. 

In an effort to try to save regain ownership and access to the property my husband and I filed a Chapter XXXX Bankruptcy on XX/XX/XXXX. As a result, my bankruptcy attorney notified all creditors who were listed in the bankruptcy and the City of XXXX was notified ; however, they did not submit the debts or judgment ( s ) to the Bankruptcy Court nor was I served anything regarding said judgments in XX/XX/XXXX. Again, to try to get the property out of foreclosure and move back into the home I filed another bankruptcy on XX/XX/XXXX but to no avail I was unable to get the home back, as a result, it was foreclosed on by both the bank and XXXX County for taxes. XXXX, Trustee on XX/XX/XXXX, foreclosed on the home and the home was scheduled to be sold in Sherriff Auction on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX in public auction. During this time the City of XXXX did not inform the Bankruptcy Trustee of any pending judgment ( s ) or outstanding judgment ( s ) for fines/tickets issued to a property that I no longer lived in or belonged to me. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, garnished out of my bank account without any notification or knowledge of the debts in question. I contacted the bank and the debt collector to investigate why funds were taken out of my account. The person I spoke with gave me the information and indicated that she would send me out something in the mail. I gave her my address and the bankruptcy case number. Next, I contacted the City of XXXX office to dispute these false debts against me. I was told the debts were being handled by a collection attorney 's office and they were no longer handled the disputes. They gave me the dates of all the tickets/fines and judgment dates. 

In my defense, this debt collector has illegally brought an unenforceable false claim and time-bard judgment against me. The attorney not only violated the Michigan Statue of Limitations Law by falsely renewing a debt older than 12 years, he also disregarded court protocols and did not properly serve me. I was not even given an opportunity to present my defense before a default judgment was issued. I was entitled to the right to defend my case prior to the default judgment being issued and a writ of garnishment being filed. The attorney continued to send notice to an address that I have not resided at in over 12 plus years. The debt collector did not proper service/notice on a debt is and was time-barred, Statue of Limitations law according to MI 600.5809 ( 3 ) " Action to enforce non-contractual money obligations ; limitations. '' I am asking both XXXX and the Court to release my funds that were garnished.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation