What happens if AFC Gets a Judgment Against Me?

 Automotive Finance Corporation, commonly known as AFC, has been suing more of its customers in Marion County (Indianapolis), Indiana than in previous times.  In most of these cases, AFC gets a default judgment, then they begin post-judgment collections.

If AFC takes a judgment against you what can you expect? You can expect that any national financial institution that you have dealings with, if AFC knows about it, AFC will send interrogatories to that institution to find out about your accounts, and will attempt to seize any non-exempt funds from those institutions.

Recently, we have found out that AFC may also try to seize funds owed to you or the dealership from credit card processors such as Square Inc. In addition we have seen AFC go after any money from payment transfer companies such as Zelle (Early Warning Services, LLC).  We haven't seen them go after Venmo, but we wouldn't be surprised if they did.  

These collection activities are legal.  If you want to keep AFC from attempting to seize assets involuntarily, if you qualify you can seek bankruptcy protection. In the alternative, you may be able to negotiate a payment plan or post-judgment settlement with AFC.  We can assist you, if you want to do this, please call us at 317-662-4529.   

Success Getting Old Judgment Set Aside Against Palisades Acquisition XVI

Of all of my blog posts during 2019, the post about Chrysler Pacificas stalling was pretty popular. So was the one about problems with Lexington Law.  Even More popular was the post about Dodge Enterprises and Hiday and Ricke. The most popular post was my post about the problems with Palisade Acquisition XVI.  People Searched and clicked on this post 171 times.  (Granted 2 or three were probably me.)  In a world where some web pages get hit 1 billion times, 171 isn't many, but I hope that of those people at least a handful were wisend, called a lawyer and got their judgment set aside. 

Attorney Keith Hagan and I handled exactly one of these cases this year and it went exactly like I thought it would.  We were able to get the old judgment set aside for lack of service of process and we got the attorney from Levy and Associates kicked off the case (appearance stricken) because the attorney misstated her client as Great Seneca Financial Corp., a company that didn't hire her firm because it no longer existed.   Thee judge also agreed with our contention that an affidavit of assignment isn't the same as an assignment, and there was no assignment filed with the court. 

If you are interested in looking at the docket of the case, it is Great Seneca Financial Corporation vs. Kaiser, 71C01-0408-CC-000763,  click here. 

Dodge Enterprises, Inc. and Hiday and Ricke, PA and the Ghost of Great Seneca

It has come to our attention that a company named Dodge Enterprises, Inc., typically represented by the law firm of Hiday and Ricke, PA, has been collecting on judgments originally awarded to Great Seneca Financial Corp.  Some people may be facing wage garnishments or asset attachments arising out of these old cases. Typically these cases were brought between 2003 and 2007.

As far as I can tell Dodge Enterprises has only been active in Florida.

I have written multiple times on the topic of Great Seneca, but basically, Great Seneca Financial Corp. is a dead company and has been since 2008.  It is one of a group of dead companies listed below:

Great Seneca Financial Corporation
Platinum Financial Services Corporation
Monarch Capital Corporation
Centurion Capital Corporation
Sage Financial Corporation
Hawker Financial Corporation
 Colonial Credit Corporation


If Dodge Enterprises, or any other entity for that matter, contacts relating to judgments originating with one of the companies above, it is very important that you make whoever is trying to collect from you provide proof of assignment of the judgment, and that proof should go back to the original judgment-holder and be account specific.  If they can't provide that level of proof, you might have defenses to paying on the judgments, and if you don't wait too long, you may actually be able to get some money back that you've already paid. 

Feel free to call us at 317-662-4529 if you have been garnished or are facing collection by Dodge Enterprises arising from an old debt or judgment. 

Driver Solutions LLC - Bad Company of the Week

I spent much of the day today reviewing records in Warren Township Small Claims Court.  I was looking at cases filed by Driver Solutions LLC against students at their truck driving schools from all over the country.  The unfairness of these contracts is just staggering, but not nearly as the unfairness of the litigation tactics of the company, putting a clause in their contracts that they can sue their own customers in Indiana regardless of where the live, regardless of where the school was they attended, and regardless of where they signed the contracts.  In addition, my review of the files shows that in many cases where they got judgments, there was not any evidence at all that the defendants ever received a copy of the summons and the complaint.  Despite this, they are now trying to garnish wages of their customers whom they got judgments against in 2008, 2009, 2010, and these people may not even know they've been sued.  I'm trying to put together a master strategy against Driver Solutions.  If you find out they've sued you and gotten a judgment against you, you may be able to fight it.  Send me an email through my website, www.hoferlawindy.com.

What is striking about these suits is that the company seems to be targeting the most down and out, and seems intent on keeping them there.  A notice to appear in court directed to a trailer park here, a garnishment order directed to Wal-Mart there,   For the most part, these people have been living with a judgment on their credit report for at least 5 years that they don't know about. They don't know about it probably because it's not the only credit problem they have. Often times these people have not filed bankruptcy because they are too poor to file.  I just saw an article today by Robert Reich talking about Economic Apartheid.  We have enabled institutions that keep the poor down and keep them from moving up.  When we let creditors take over our courthouses and turn them into slaughtering houses, we move away from the social mobility that used to be a hallmark of America.  It's just sad.