Imagine your bank account wiped out for a debt you do not owe.
It's exactly what happened to a Pierce County woman who discovered debt collectors used a controversial and confusing tactic to get to her cash.
It's called pocket service. Debt collectors can send a summons without immediately filing a complaint.
Consumers call the court and since there's no case filed, some think it's a scam and throw the summons away. In other cases, the person may owe a debt, but if it's sold and fees are added, the consumer might not recognize the entity or the amount owed and think it's a mistake.
The consumer has 20 days to respond to the debt collector, if they don’t, they can get a default judgment against the consumer.
KIRO 7's Jesse Jones explains why Superior Court Judges and the Attorney General want to end pocket service in debt collection cases for good in the video embedded below:
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