Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

I have a question, I live in California and recently I have been receiving some phone calls by a lawyer claming I have a debt of $8,000 with American Express. I have never had an American Express card and I have never been delinquent in my life and my FICO credit score right mow is over 850. This debt doesn't show in any of my credit reports, and no credit check by this collector shows on my credit reports. I believe it is a case of mistaken identity because this other person live in my same city Santa Monica. The caller said I have been sued and I defaulted (obviously I have never received a summons because the account is not mine and I am sure the address and dSocial Security number must be different), I believe he thinks I am the other person. I am worried that these people can drag me to court or freeze my bank account because of mistaken identity and the fact he thinks I am the person who defaulted. I checked the white pages there are a few people whit my same name. My question is If a name is similar or identical to another individual, don't they need a match with social security numeber to request a freeze in a bank account? This is not a case of ID theft.

Thank you,

Robert G.


Asked on 5/21/12, 7:23 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Matthew Mickelson Law Offices of Matthew C. Mickelson

Your best bet is to convince the lawyer you are not the judgment debtor. Provide proof that you never lived at the location he served the defendant at. You can also demand that he verify the debt by providing all the details of how the debt was incurred; this should also provide facts that show you are not the debtor. If he remains obstinate, remind him that he may be liable under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

He doesn't need a social security number to garnish a bank account, should he find one, although some banks may be reluctant to provide him money if he doesn't use one. If that happens, you can file a third party claim to get the money back, although that would be a big hassle. I suggest you contact a lawyer if he doesn't let up in order to threaten him off and get him on track of the real debtor.

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Answered on 5/21/12, 11:39 am


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