Upton, Cohen And Slamowitz ripoff lawyers unwilling to allow me my rights, harrassing, rude, threatening, freezing my bank account like a joke Woodbury New York

To anyone who has had any lawyer operate illegally and/or unethically to get a judgement and/or garnishment by means of bad service, etc. Be sure to file a BAR ASSOCIATION complaint on that lawyer.

We need to make an example ot of a few of these bottomfeeding rats so the others might stand up and take notice.

It is also a criminal offense to falsify any testimpony or document with a court. Usually a felony. So, the prosecutor's office needs to get the complaint too.

Well, thay have dropped the "Upton" from their name but they are up to the same old tricks! They froze my husband's checking account, we were never notified of any court procedings, and don't even know what the original charge was for.
I am so glad I found your post, so now we have some ideas about what to do next. I am glad that you succeeded, and I hope we can too.
Can we fight this without hiring a lawyer? (Since the account is frozen, we have no money)
If anyone has a class action lawsuit, against this company, I'd like to know because we want in.
You can see my details in the report I have filed on this website.

waiting for the results...been almost a month...patricia should be home soon....

Well everyone, I just got back from NY last night, having been to court in New York on 6/16, and I am HAPPY to say that the case was dismissed!! The judge did give me something in case Upton decided to sue me in Florida, but the lawyer from that firm assured me that it was over!!

The summons was claimed to have been served to my roommate, and when asked for proof, NONE could be provided by the law firm.

I am so happy to get on with my life now!

Thanks again for ALL of the support from ripoffreport.com, and from all of those who read. Good luck to everyone!

THANK YOU KIM

Kim, don't get me wrong, I know you don't know me from a hole in the wall, and I know this world is filled with dishonest people trying to beat the system. You have no reason to believe me, but I am not angry about it. I only need to argue my case to the judge. You are right though, I am currently in New York, and I did go to court and receive paperwork to forward to Upton, and I must return for a court date in two weeks.

Had I known I was being accused of owing this money, I would have answered the judgement right away, but I've lived in Florida for almost two years now, and had my roommate received any legal judgements, she would have addressed me about it immediately.

Win or lose, I will post the outcome in two weeks. Fran - Lisle, thank you for your support.

I happen to be correct w/ an order to show cause accept that i wrote that it would show the debt would be owed. an order to show cause is when a judgement has been placed and you were not served...you can go to court and ask for an "order to show cause" with an attorney and it stops all legal action and you get another court date...then the company who is sueing you will need to show up in court as well...when you get to court and they provide you w/ the answer you can talk to judge about paymenr arrangement and they will make you sign a document in court stating when and how much you're pymnts will be. This again stops all legal action unless you default.

a judge's written mandate that a party appear in court on a certain date and give reasons, legal and/or factual, (show cause) why a particular order should not be made. This rather stringent method of making a party appear with proof and legal arguments is applied to cases of possible contempt for failure to pay child support, sanctions for failure to file necessary documents or appear previously, or to persuade the judge he/she should not grant a writ of mandate against a governmental agency.

Patricia let me know how you make out. Upton Cohen and Slamowitz will continue to terrorize people unless we take a stand. I think we should find other people like ourselves and all go to court.

Thank you to everyone in my defense. Kim, it would be ridiculous for me to go through this trouble to ask for help if I thought in the end there would be evidence against me. My roommate from New York (for 12 years) has nothing to gain from lying, except to be caught in a lie by the court as well. Any h*o, I am leaving to New York to see a judge, in hopes of an investigation getting started (now I wouldn't be buying a plane ticket, just to go to court and prove to be a liar).

I have noted the legal information which was provided to me, and I thank you very much for that. I will keep anyone interested posted on the outcome of my trip to court. If the law does not prevail, then what can I do? I must do what the judge tells me to.

Again, thank you for all of your comments, and I will let you know what happens.

There have been innumerable documented cases of process servers (including Marshalls and Sheriff's deputies) who claimed they served a complaint on someone and never did. This is called "sewer service." Usually, this happens when there has been one or two unsuccessful attempts and finally they give up. There was a case in Georgia several years ago in which there indictments for doing just that.

It's not all that important of an issue, but I would like to clear up a mis-statement in Kim's response.

The bottom line is that if there is already a judgment in place then there will be no more arguing about whether or not the debt was valid in the first place unless and until that original judgment can be set aside for, most likely, a procedural issue wholely separate from the merits.

To put it in simpler terms: the debt is already valid in the eyes of the law, regardless of whether or not it was valid in the first place.

Once there is a judgment against you your issue is "a thing decided." In regards to default judgments, there is no hope for appeals on the merits of the case because there were never any arguments on the appeals in the first place, ergo no error in the process, ergo no appeal.

What this all comes back to is the reiterated idea that a company claiming a debt against you, once they have a judgment on that debt, still has to provide you with proof that you actually owe the money. This notion is incorrect. Once there is a judgment, the question of whether or not you actually owe the money has been settled.

To add a bit of advice to this: DON'T IGNORE LEGAL NOTICES! Default judgments are the debt collector's best friend. The vast majority of people that are claimed to owe relatively small sums of money, and are subsequently taken to court, never show up to defend themselves. After the issue has been settled they try to find a way out, but there isn't one.

It's not possible for Cohen & Slamowitz to be lying because when a summons is delivered to the house than the sheriff or marshal who delivered it must fill out a report of who accepted the summoms, time it was delivered and where. So if your roommate tries to go to up in court it will be considered lying because of the sherrifs notes.
You need to hire a lawyer and he has to request an "order to show cause". If they can prove you owe it (which I 100% believe you do) than you will have to pay. Remember, for 20 years they will continue to go after you and your assets. Get over it and pay it! Don't forget, interest is added on daily!!!!!!!!!

Patricia, again I have to reiterate that I am not a lawyer. Sorry to have to keep repeating that, but my knowledge of the law is limited, and if I were to give you bad advice that you relied on instead of going to a lawyer then you could "miss the boat" on taking advantage of competent legal advice.

Here are a couple of places that you may want to contact. Keep in mind that these outfits offer services to the indigent, and if you don't fit that criteria then you're going to end up having to pay for a lawyer, which should still be substantially cheaper than the money these guys are claiming from you.

Greater Orlando Area Legal Services (G.O.A.L.S.)
225 W. Main
Tavares, FL 32801
(407) 841-8310

Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Assn.
100 East Robinson St.
Orlando, FL 32801-1694
(407) 841-8310

These may actually be the same group. Even if they aren't able to provide representation for you, they should be able to refer you to an attorney or clinc that meets your needs both substantively and financially.

Since you already have a judgment against you in the State of New York your defenses are limited. As of now, your case is decided and any arguments you may have for why you shouldn't have to pay this debt are legally irrelevant. Most likely, if a lawyer can do anything for you, he will either attack the sufficiency of the notice or the jurisdiction of the New York court.

The thing about "notice" that alot of people fail to understand is that "actual notice" is never necessary, the only requirement is that it is reasonably calculated to apprise you of the proceedings against you. Of course, whatever method of notice is used also has to comport with the requirements of state law. Nowadays lawyers are very astute to the notice requirements, and attorneys lousing up the notice process almost never happens. Most, if not all, states do have a provision whereby even if notice was properly served it can still be found insufficient if even reasonable notice would not have reached you.

A jurisdictional attack will only work if a Florida court, or a higher New York court, determines that New York had no personal jurisdiction over you at the time of the proceedings (per this issue, it's a good thing that you have a default judgment instead of a judgment on the merits). However, since the events giving rise to this case took place in New York, it is unlikely that such an attack would be fruitful.

Given that there is already a judgment against you, the merits of your case are irrelevant unless the procedural elements of that judgment (notice and/or jurisdiction) can be successfully attacked. You face a tough battle, but I would by no means call it an impossible one.

I am troubled by the statement you made regarding the fact that you made payments because lawyers told you that it was your only option. I am assuming you are talking about the lawyers that your complaint is against, the lawyers representing Providian.

Here is some very important advice that EVERY consumer should heed: NEVER, EVER rely on your opponent's legal counsel to fully inform you of your rights. They owe you NO duty because they do not represent you. Their sole concern is the well-being of their own client, they do not have your best interests in mind. Actually, this advice could be extended to all spheres of commercial life. Never depend on the insurance company representing the guy you got in an accident with to give you good advice; never assume that a company that has done you wrong is actually doing everything they can to make it right.

Best of luck Patricia, and be aware that there may be time limits to whatever action you will ultimately take, so act fast!

I woyld definitely check into this person's story. I had my own horror story with these people. I had a Montgomery Wards credit card that had disputed charges on it. I was in negotiations with them when they went out of business. I never disputed that I owed them money but I wasn't going to pay for bogus charges. Montgomery wards went out of business and I wasn't contacted for a long time and when I was it was an extremely nasty person by the name of Chris Muzzy. I told him that I would be happy to pay an ammended bill. He harrased me at work and could have cost me my job, threatened me at home and at work, harrassed my neice called her a liaramong other things, called the director h*o HR where work and proceeded to harrass her. I have 3 signed affadavits regarding the harrassment. I filed a complaint with the New Your State Attorney General's office Which mystreiously got stalled, the obtained a judgement while I was under Dr.s care and unable to go to court. (yes I called the court to say I was ill they didn't tell me to send it in writing!) They froze my checking account (I had direct deposit ant electronic checking). Didn't notify me until a week later and cost me $200 in bounced check charges. I've called several lawyers who don't want to get involved in a "small dollar" case so I had to let the blood suckers bleed me dry. Maybe If we get enough complaints we can start a class action suit against them. They bleed the little guy that can't afford to fight back!

I woyld definitely check into this person's story. I had my own horror story with these people. I had a Montgomery Wards credit card that had disputed charges on it. I was in negotiations with them when they went out of business. I never disputed that I owed them money but I wasn't going to pay for bogus charges. Montgomery wards went out of business and I wasn't contacted for a long time and when I was it was an extremely nasty person by the name of Chris Muzzy. I told him that I would be happy to pay an ammended bill. He harrased me at work and could have cost me my job, threatened me at home and at work, harrassed my neice called her a liaramong other things, called the director h*o HR where work and proceeded to harrass her. I have 3 signed affadavits regarding the harrassment. I filed a complaint with the New Your State Attorney General's office Which mystreiously got stalled, the obtained a judgement while I was under Dr.s care and unable to go to court. (yes I called the court to say I was ill they didn't tell me to send it in writing!) They froze my checking account (I had direct deposit ant electronic checking). Didn't notify me until a week later and cost me $200 in bounced check charges. I've called several lawyers who don't want to get involved in a "small dollar" case so I had to let the blood suckers bleed me dry. Maybe If we get enough complaints we can start a class action suit against them. They bleed the little guy that can't afford to fight back!

I woyld definitely check into this person's story. I had my own horror story with these people. I had a Montgomery Wards credit card that had disputed charges on it. I was in negotiations with them when they went out of business. I never disputed that I owed them money but I wasn't going to pay for bogus charges. Montgomery wards went out of business and I wasn't contacted for a long time and when I was it was an extremely nasty person by the name of Chris Muzzy. I told him that I would be happy to pay an ammended bill. He harrased me at work and could have cost me my job, threatened me at home and at work, harrassed my neice called her a liaramong other things, called the director h*o HR where work and proceeded to harrass her. I have 3 signed affadavits regarding the harrassment. I filed a complaint with the New Your State Attorney General's office Which mystreiously got stalled, the obtained a judgement while I was under Dr.s care and unable to go to court. (yes I called the court to say I was ill they didn't tell me to send it in writing!) They froze my checking account (I had direct deposit ant electronic checking). Didn't notify me until a week later and cost me $200 in bounced check charges. I've called several lawyers who don't want to get involved in a "small dollar" case so I had to let the blood suckers bleed me dry. Maybe If we get enough complaints we can start a class action suit against them. They bleed the little guy that can't afford to fight back!

Upton, Cohen and Slamowitz claim that they sent a notice to me in New York, while I was already living in Florida. They claim that my roommate who still resided at that address in New York, received the judgement (she will swear in any court that she did not, she worked during the day, and Upton has yet to come up with a signature of receipt), and the reason they pulled up my name in Florida is because my roommate and I opened a joint account together in Florida, and she was already making payments to them for her own debt.

When she moved here, she stopped making her payments for a couple of months, and they put another lien on "our" account. That is when they realized we were the same two people from New York, and they dared to say that maybe my roommate applied for, and stole the card from me!

We have been roommates for 12 years!! I would really appreciate some help with a step in the right direction, and the reason I began making payments is because I was already dealing with lawyers, they said there was nothing else they or I could do, they said it was the only way to lift the lien from my account, and I am trying to clear my credit in order to buy a house. I am not trying to cry victim, I simply made an uninformed decision. Thank you for reading my comments, and I look forward to hearing from you with any helpful suggestions.

Thank You,

Be advised that I am not a lawyer, and my comments below should not be construed as competent legal advice. Your best option, and possibly your only option, is to hire a lawyer. If you can't afford a lawyer, I reccomend looking for a local legal aid or legal assistance foundation, or checking with a local law school to see if they run a clinic. If you need some assistance with this let me know, I'd be glad to help.

First, are you absolutely sure you never received any notice of proceedings against you? From my cursory research, in the State of Florida you probably would have received something in the mail, and after not responding to it, would have had it attached to your door, left with someone staying with you, or delivered in hand.

If you did receive notice of proceedings then you most likely have a default judgment against you and there is little you can do about it (not nothing, but little). If you did not receive notice, then you probably still have a default judgment against you, but there is more you can do about it.

Either way there is, most likely, a judgment entered against you. If the bank allowed a lien to be placed on your account without a judicial order then you MAY have a cause of action against the bank, but I doubt this is the case.

Pre-judgment attachments are generally not allowed except for in situations where it is absolutely necessary. However, there may have been something in the contract with the credit card company (that you assented to by filling out the application) that allows them to do this. Whether or not it is actually allowed under the laws of your state is a different story. Thus, obtaining legal counsel is imperative. Not only to avoid a debt that you say you don't owe, but also to clear up any damage this may have done to your credit.

I do have a little bit of a concern with the merits of your report, however. The fact that you began paying off this debt, rather than going straight to a lawyer, hints to me that this debt is valid. Couple that with the fact that you probably did at least apply for this card. Here's a few scenarios, one of which is probably what happened:

1) You actually did receive this card and ran up the debt claimed, but are now upset about the repurcussions and the way you are being treated. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that this is not the case, but if it is, you need to deal with the troubles you've created rather than trying to find a loophole, because you won't find one. (Side note: if there is a judgment against you, the collectors don't have to provide you with evidence of the debt because it has already been declared valid by a judge, you missed your chance to contest the debt by not showing up to court).

2) You applied for, and were approved for this card, but for one reason or another never received it. Providian is what I would call a "predatory lender" that gives credit cards to people that otherwise could not get them and charges a massive interest rate. Let's say you had a $70 initial fee at an interest rate of 25%. Every month you fail to make a payment, another $30 is tacked on to your balance. Once you go over your limit, another 30$ is tacked on each month. With a $300 initial limit, you would owe them about $3000 after three years. Tack on legal and other fees, and you could be well over $4000.

3) You applied for and were denied the card, but for one reason or another their computers think otherwise, and have been erroneously racking up charges and interest against you.

4) Identity theft, or someone stole the card out of your mailbox (maybe they snatched your summons too!).

At any rate, you need legal help.

Best of luck to you!