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Summons taped to door - lawyer advice.


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So I got home today and there was a summons taped to my front door. Some guy named Derrill Wilson owed 2500$ and was being sued for services and goods rendered. etc.

 

I tried looking for a contact number, but it just had the county name and courthouse, the company suing him, and the amount. Also something about 20 days to respond; although I wouldn't know how, I guess go down to the county office...

 

I've never heard of this guy. I think he's about to get screwed. Should I be doing something? Can this affect me?

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So I got home today and there was a summons taped to my front door. Some guy named Derrill Wilson owed 2500$ and was being sued for services and goods rendered. etc.

 

I tried looking for a contact number, but it just had the county name and courthouse, the company suing him, and the amount. Also something about 20 days to respond; although I wouldn't know how, I guess go down to the county office...

 

I've never heard of this guy. I think he's about to get screwed. Should I be doing something? Can this affect me?

There should be a reference number on the summons for when you call the court house.

 

At a previous job located on a military base, I would occasionally receive calls from a a debt collector on my work phone. They kept calling and didn't believe that I wasn't the person who owed them money. At one point they hinted that if I didnt pay they would send some people who could be very persuasive in getting me to pay.

 

I asked them what address they had on file for the guy and then I corrected them with the base I was on. And then I suggested their persuasive friends won't be able to talk their way onto base past the uniformed military personnel who probably wouldn't react so well to their other forms of "persuasion"

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So I got home today and there was a summons taped to my front door. Some guy named Derrill Wilson owed 2500$ and was being sued for services and goods rendered. etc.

 

I tried looking for a contact number, but it just had the county name and courthouse, the company suing him, and the amount. Also something about 20 days to respond; although I wouldn't know how, I guess go down to the county office...

 

I've never heard of this guy. I think he's about to get screwed. Should I be doing something? Can this affect me?

The right thing to do here is pay the $2500 for the guy. but since the summons was taped too a door and not personally

Handed to Mr. WIlson i don't see how anything here can hold Mr. Wilson too be legally responsible. He was not served. Since obviously they have no idea where this guy is. Maybe a douchebag

Collection agency using their typical silly unenforceable strong arm tactics. If you own the home they could find that out through public record. They would know he no longer lives there. Their fishing here. And things like that..........

 

 

 

 

 

Full disclosure: i am not a lawyer but I drink with a couple on a regular basis.

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My immediate thought: make sure you don't have any legal issues, would hate for it to be a trick to get you to show up and....wham, you're served.

 

How long have you been at your address, could the dude have lived there before you?

 

So I got home today and there was a summons taped to my front door. Some guy named Derrill Wilson owed 2500$ and was being sued for services and goods rendered. etc.

 

I tried looking for a contact number, but it just had the county name and courthouse, the company suing him, and the amount. Also something about 20 days to respond; although I wouldn't know how, I guess go down to the county office...

 

I've never heard of this guy. I think he's about to get screwed. Should I be doing something? Can this affect me?

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My immediate thought: make sure you don't have any legal issues, would hate for it to be a trick to get you to show up and....wham, you're served.

 

How long have you been at your address, could the dude have lived there before you?

 

 

I've been here a few years. The previous owner was a Sanchez. I don't know how else to find more owners.

Maybe he was a room-mate.

 

I feel like I'm being watched. Maybe I should get some cameras in case they start messing with my house.

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I've been here a few years. The previous owner was a Sanchez. I don't know how else to find more owners.

Maybe he was a room-mate.

 

I feel like I'm being watched. Maybe I should get some cameras in case they start messing with my house.

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The right thing to do here is pay the $2500 for the guy. but since the summons was taped too a door and not personally

Handed to Mr. WIlson i don't see how anything here can hold Mr. Wilson too be legally responsible. He was not served. Since obviously they have no idea where this guy is. Maybe a douchebag

Collection agency using their typical silly unenforceable strong arm tactics. If you own the home they could find that out through public record. They would know he no longer lives there. Their fishing here. And things like that..........

 

 

 

 

 

Full disclosure: i am not a lawyer but I drink with a couple on a regular basis.

The only thing I'm worried about is if he was a former owner, could the county slap a fine on the property instead of the person?

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I've been here a few years. The previous owner was a Sanchez. I don't know how else to find more owners.

Depending on your local government webpage, you can check the property tax website and see back several years who owned the house before you

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Umm, lots of overthinking here. If you're not Derrill Wilson and he doesn't live there, you are within your rights to deposit said summons in the nearest circular filing bin.

 

I don't know why you'd do anything else.

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The only thing I'm worried about is if he was a former owner, could the county slap a fine on the property instead of the person?

 

No

 

Umm, lots of overthinking here. If you're not Derrill Wilson and he doesn't live there, you are within your rights to deposit said summons in the nearest circular filing bin.

 

I don't know why you'd do anything else.

 

This. You're not obligated to do anything. If you want to be nice you can call the courthouse and kindly inform them that Mr. Wilson does not live in your house. Otherwise just trash it.

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The only thing I'm worried about is if he was a former owner, could the county slap a fine on the property instead of the person?

 

Not a fine, a lien.

 

And it depends...if it's owed to the government, they certainly can (though they'd be wrong to...but county governments do dumb **** all the time). If it's owed to a private individual, they could theoretically get a mechanic's lien attached to the property if the debt was for work performed on the property...but I don't know how difficult that would be. At a guess: if the summons was for a hearing on the debt, and he doesn't show up, the court could issue the lien and, having the wrong address, attach it to your property.

 

So what I would do in your situation is write a letter stating that they have the wrong address for the person they're looking for, get it notarized, and send it certified return-receipt to both the courthouse (attention to whoever signed the summons - there has to be someone's name on it) and the company suing. Hopefully it's superfluous, and nothing comes of it...if things do get !@#$ed up (like they would in my world), at least then you have a paper trail saying "Look, told you guys you had the wrong address..." Think of it as insurance: you likely won't need it, but if things do go pear-shaped you'll be happy you did it.

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A lien for a judgment is only indexed against real property owned by the judgment debtor. It automatically attaches to real property in the same county as the court issuing the judgment. If a judgment creditor wants to get the lien to attach to property owned by the debtor in a different county then they need to file a transcript of judgment in that other county.

 

If this ever happens to your property and the judgment attaches after your deed is recorded then it is easy to prove that you're not the debtor. Any time you refinance or sell, you can show the title company that the lien was placed on the wrong property and you shouldn't have a problem. It also shouldn't be a problem with your credit because you're not the debtor.

 

If it is a mechanics lien then you probably need to defend it to show that you're not the person who contracted for the services. Also, mechanics liens need to be filed and served first, then foreclosed. There are time limits on when the foreclosure can be started.

 

Caveat: different rules for different states. I'm talking about New York. I'd follow up to the point of inquiring who the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney is and give them a call to tell them that they're barking up the wrong tree. Sounds like a small claims case, things are pretty loose at that level.

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A lien for a judgment is only indexed against real property owned by the judgment debtor. It automatically attaches to real property in the same county as the court issuing the judgment. If a judgment creditor wants to get the lien to attach to property owned by the debtor in a different county then they need to file a transcript of judgment in that other county.

 

If this ever happens to your property and the judgment attaches after your deed is recorded then it is easy to prove that you're not the debtor. Any time you refinance or sell, you can show the title company that the lien was placed on the wrong property and you shouldn't have a problem. It also shouldn't be a problem with your credit because you're not the debtor.

 

If it is a mechanics lien then you probably need to defend it to show that you're not the person who contracted for the services. Also, mechanics liens need to be filed and served first, then foreclosed. There are time limits on when the foreclosure can be started.

 

Caveat: different rules for different states. I'm talking about New York. I'd follow up to the point of inquiring who the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney is and give them a call to tell them that they're barking up the wrong tree. Sounds like a small claims case, things are pretty loose at that level.

 

This sounds reasonable.

 

I really don't want to spend my own money chasing down another guys debt problems.

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A lien for a judgment is only indexed against real property owned by the judgment debtor. It automatically attaches to real property in the same county as the court issuing the judgment. If a judgment creditor wants to get the lien to attach to property owned by the debtor in a different county then they need to file a transcript of judgment in that other county.

 

If this ever happens to your property and the judgment attaches after your deed is recorded then it is easy to prove that you're not the debtor. Any time you refinance or sell, you can show the title company that the lien was placed on the wrong property and you shouldn't have a problem. It also shouldn't be a problem with your credit because you're not the debtor.

 

If it is a mechanics lien then you probably need to defend it to show that you're not the person who contracted for the services. Also, mechanics liens need to be filed and served first, then foreclosed. There are time limits on when the foreclosure can be started.

 

Caveat: different rules for different states. I'm talking about New York. I'd follow up to the point of inquiring who the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney is and give them a call to tell them that they're barking up the wrong tree. Sounds like a small claims case, things are pretty loose at that level.

This.
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