Being sued by debt collector?

These comments are made for educational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship exists between us.

Regardless of the errors in the paperwork, you must defend yourself with the court. Did you have a defaulted account with the creditor or did they just get everything wrong? Either way, you may have a claim for violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Each violation of the Act is worth up to $1,000 to you, any actual damages, and mental anguish, plus attorney fees. You can call me for a free consultation to discuss this matter.

Most likely this suit is done by a very bad collection agency which is blatantly violating the fair debt collection act. Search avvo for a TX lawyer who does this type of work. There are sanctions and there is a fee shifting rule which means the creditor pays your legal bills.
You might find my legal guide on selecting and hiring a lawyer helpful.
You might find my legal guide on Is it Legal? Is it Illegal? helpful.
You might find my legal guide on the understanding the different court systems helpful.
You might find my legal guide on legal terms used in litigation helpful.
(Even if you are not filing a lawsuit this information can be useful).

You might find my legal guide on commercial litigation helpful.
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The prior federal administration severely weakened most state’s laws against excessive interest. Unpaid debts now have practically no ceiling on interest which means the final bill can be much more than the original debt.
When you have received a collection notice, lawsuit or even a judgment on an old debt which may have already been paid, or belongs to someone else, or has been discharged in bankruptcy, keep the following in mind. After a creditor writes off your debt, it can then be sold to a collection agency. That agency may sell it again and the next one again. By the time the debt is assigned to a law firm, it can be years pass the statute of limitations, all of the original contracts have been lost and there may be no legal foundation for enforcing the debt. One way of knowing this is that the agency will have no discernible address or they will say they are collecting from a creditor, but the creditor does not know who they are. They will call you at work , and they will not listen to any explanation at all. They will refuse any suggested payment plan and demand a large sum at once. Often these collection agencies and even law firms will file a suit against you, misspell your name, or deliberately send it to the wrong address. You have no notice but they go to court anyway, get a default judgment against you when you do not come to court, and file a judgment lien on your assets such as a home you are trying to sell, or they report you to a credit bureau as a deadbeat. You are allowed to send a 100 word explanation in writing to the three credit bureaus (which they must print) as to why the debt is invalid. Also, many attorneys will take such a case on a contingency basis. A Violations of the fair debt collection act has a fee shifting rule (the creditor pays your attorney). Not only do you get the debt out of your life, you may get a financial award also. Be sure to write to your congress representative to have a stronger federal law to restore a ceiling on interest and to curtail these illegal collection practices.


LEGAL DISCLAIMER
Mr. Sarno is licensed to practice law in NJ and NY. His response here is not legal advice and does not create an attorney/ client relationship. The response is in the form of legal education and is intended to provide general information about the matter in question. Many times the questioner may leave out details which would make the reply unsuitable. Mr. Sarno strongly advises the questioner to confer with an attorney in their own state to acquire more information.

Since you have been sued, you will need to file an answer. In that answer, you can object that the person identified as the plaintiff is not you (i.e. you and the account holder do not match) and you can attempt to dismiss the lawsuit because of this. You may want to call the attorney who filed the action and inform him of the mistaken identity. They may be willing to nonsuit/dismiss the case based on that.

The fact that the lawsuit copy you have is not signed is not a problem.

As for claims you may have, you might have some ability to recover under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act for any violations of that act's provisions.