PLATINUM FINANCIAL SERVICES DEFAULT JUDGMENT
A consumer contacted us after he realized that a default judgment had been
obtained against him by Platinum Financial Services, a debt buyer. Platinum
Financial retained the debt collection law firm of Houslanger and Associates
to enforce on the judgment by finding the consumer’s employer so
they could garnish his wages or levy his bank account. Houslanger did
find his bank account and a small amount of funds were levied. The consumer
was confused as he was never served with a lawsuit to begin with and never
knew that there was an action in court against him. He also did not understand
how a judgment that was 11 years old could be enforced on as he pleaded
that the statute of limitations had passed. The statute of limitations
argument is a common one that we hear and is usually misinterpreted.
The statute of limitations to sue a consumer on a debt matter is 6 years
in New York. However, our client had already been sued and a default judgment
was obtained against him, so the 6-year SOL would not be helpful unless
the judgment was vacated, and the expired SOL submitted as an affirmative
defense in the re-opened action. The statute of limitations on consumer
debt judgments in New York is 10 years and can be renewed for an additional
10 years giving creditors the ability to enforce on a judgment for a total
of 20 years. The renewal of judgments is often not completed or done inappropriately
which can lead to dismissal of the debt but few consumers and attorneys
review whether the judgment was properly renewed. In this matter, the
judgment was actually properly renewed after the initial decade but Houslanger
and Associates knew that our client was improperly served with the original
lawsuit, so they agreed to vacate the judgment against our and offered
to settle the matter for about 80% off of the total amount.