Malen And Associates Did not follow legal process. Westbury New York

My son was getting gas and his debit card was declined. Figuring it was some sort of minor bank glitch that could be corrected immediately, he called the bank. He was told that there was a freeze put on his account. His pay is directly deposited into this account.

Apparently the freeze was put on this account for one of my past debts. I am an authorized user on this bank account. It was the bank who informed me who had put the freeze onto the account. The bank gave me contact information for Malen and Associates. I called them to find out how this could happen without my being notified. I was informed that a "default judgment" had been awarded. I was told that there was a summons left taped near my home several months ago, which I did not answer. I explained that I did not receive any correspondence that I was told had supposedly been sent.

At this point, I asked the woman I was speaking to, how we could get my sons account unfrozen. I explained that the only monies that are deposited into this account are from my sons pay. He is not a party to the debt. I tried to explain that his income is the only household income, as I am not employed and besides my adult son and myself, I have two minor children living at home. With my sons account frozen not only can my son not purchase gas to get to work but we can not pay any bills (housing, utility, propane for cooking etc.) nor can we purchase food and other necessities. This is most troublesome especially with my two children out from school for summer vacation. I told the woman I was willing to make some sort of payment agreement. She replied "We will not unfreeze the account for these reasons. The account will remain frozen till the debt is paid in full."

I still had no copy of any of the paperwork that was supposedly sent to me. I went to my County Clerk and ran my name in the computer. The "default judgment" was dated June 30, 2008. The "Affidavit Of Service" stated supposed "facts" that I believe to be "lies". I will not get into that here, because that is signed by a Process Server and not Malen and Associates themselves.

I asked at the courts if there was something I could do about this. I was told I could reopen this but I have to pay a $95.00 filing fee to the court. Currently I do not have the $95.00 to file this. Meanwhile my son did ask his employer to stop the direct deposit, unfortunately that could take 2 pay periods which is a month. I have also spoken to Legal Aid.

I am not necessarily disputing or yet admitting to having this debt. If it can be shown that I do owe this debt I would be willing to make a payment arrangement. What concerns me is the methods in which Malen and Associates proceeded to be awarded the "default judgment" and their inability to talk rationally to me and work out a solution that while benefiting them would allow my family to work and eat.

Debby
Ohio, New York
U.S.A.