Persistent 'Zombie Debts' haunt New York residents over extended periods
In the bustling city of New York, a hidden problem has been brewing for years - the issue of "zombie debt." This term refers to old, time-barred debts that are aggressively pursued by third-party debt collectors, despite being legally unenforceable due to the statute of limitations.
One of the most common types of zombie debt in New York involves debts related to sewer services, adding to the broader problem of old, unpaid bills being chased relentlessly. Industry experts have documented numerous instances of such debts persisting and being pursued long after they should have expired.
In 2010, a notable case emerged when Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued David Warshall and Serves You Right, alleging widespread service fraud, including over 800 instances of servers claiming to deliver papers to two defendants in different locations at once. As a result, Serves You Right was dissolved, and Warshall was banned from the service industry and fined $50,000. However, there were no consequences for Torres, another employee of Serves You Right.
The enforcement against shady process servers is severely limited, with fewer than 700 hearings to investigate claims of non-service out of over 400,000 cases in New York during a recent five-year period. In New York City, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection can revoke a process server's license if they violate laws or regulations, but this is a rare occurrence. In the rest of the state, no license is needed.
Consumers in New York can take several measures to contest zombie debt collection attempts. They can request written validation of the debt from the collector, check the statute of limitations for the specific debt type in New York, do not make any payments or acknowledge the debt without full verification, file a dispute with the debt collector, report any violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), seek assistance from consumer protection agencies or legal counsel, and challenge any default judgments in court.
Despite these efforts, many defendants find themselves in a difficult position. For many defendants, there is no right to a lawyer in civil cases, and most are not as fortunate as Barbara Stinson, who successfully challenged a nearly $20,000 debt from a default judgment from a dozen years earlier.
Cases like Stinson's highlight the importance of verification and awareness of the statute of limitations for consumers. In the case of sewer service debts, it is crucial for consumers to ensure they have been properly notified of any lawsuits and to challenge any collection attempts that appear to be zombie debt.
References:
- New York Times: A New York City Process Server's License Is Revoked
- New York State Department of State: Statute of Limitations
- Consumer Reports: How to Deal with Zombie Debt
- Consumer Finance Protection Bureau: The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
- National Consumer Law Center: Zombie Debt
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