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Guilty Until Proven Innocent?

-DLC-

By -DLC-
in Off-Topic General

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-DLC- Canucks Hall-of-Famer

-DLC-

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So I recently had something happen that kind of surprised me and really opened my eyes to how things aren't always done as they should be...as in innocent people have to prove they're not guilty. I always just assumed it was the other way around and guilty people had the burden of proving that they were innocent.

I was minding my own business, singing* & cleaning the fridge one Sunday a few weeks ago when I noticed a guy standing at my front screen door. When I went down to ask what he wanted, he asked if I was Deb _________. It was my maiden name, and since I didn't know who this freak was and my legal name had changed long ago, I wasn't about to give details and said no. He then said he had a delivery and asked if he could leave it with me, and handed me an envelope.

I opened the envelope and it was a package containing court papers involving someone with the same (maiden) name as me but at a different address/city. I quickly flagged the guy down and said "this isn't me...you've delivered to the wrong address". He said "no, I have to leave them here, so if you don't take them I'm putting them through the mailbox".

After a few minutes of going back and forth, the guy identified himself as a server who was working on behalf of some lawyers in Surrey and gave me their details (sleazeballs).

In scanning quickly through the papers, I determined that the case was in relation to a credit card (debt). I don't have any credit cards, so immediately thought it was some sort of identity theft and contacted police. They directed me in what to do (get more details), so I contacted the credit card company in question at that point.

After looking more closely at the documents, I started to piece together that they were likely trying to track down a person with the same name as my maiden name and were likely using a process of elimination to do so. There was another person also named (same name), in Vancouver as well.

The next day I started making calls from work and confirmed that that was exactly what had happened....lawyers for the credit card company were, in fact, trying to track down someone ordered by the courts to make payments and were randomly serving people with the same name court papers in an attempt to reach her with one of the copies. As they were having trouble locating her (and she was obviously on the run), they simply did a sweep of same names via the Land Registry/Title office! I was shocked that this was even legal - to include someone's name/address/details on court papers without them ever having done anything wrong! I quickly was told by the Clerk at the Land Registry office that "lawyers do this all the time".

I called the lawyers office, mad as hell. Their response: "it's a perfectly legal process", to which I abruptly asked "yeah, but is it ethical?". It's not...it's actually ridiculous. I tore a strip off the woman, who suggested I send her my ID to eliminate myself from the process. I almost did, then I thought "screw you!"....why on Earth would I trust sleazeball lawyers being paid to track someone down in order for them to collect? The cops also instructed me not to do so...they said there was no way I should have to supply it to them. Besides, where was this request BEFORE they took it upon themselves to add me into the mix? Seems like they were doing things kind of ass backward in a very lazy approach to finding who they were looking for.

Speaking of which, I spent 2 minutes on social media before finding who it likely is...it was easy. She's over on the Island - but the lawyers can do that digging themselves as they obviously haven't tried very hard.

I have contacted the court and offered to produce any ID necessary to verify it's not me. My credit history supports this (Equifax). No credit cards in my name and my residence has stayed the same for decades....I have never resided in the city that this woman is from.

But I'm totally pissed that I have to even go through this process. I've had to invest an entire workday on this crap already (that cost me a day's wages) and I've also had to send my response via registered mail, at an extra expense to me. The court clerk (who was rather clueless and unhelpful) actually suggested I contact a lawyer....WHY THE HELL SHOULD I....I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS?? Sure, better safe than sorry but I can't afford a lawyer and this should be really easy to figure out. I am not worried because I've done nothing wrong/illegal, but boy am I angry.

It's very disheartening to learn that, while this dumbass woman is skipping around town she's dragging others into her wake. This other woman (on Pendrell Street in Vancouver) will also have to go through the same process. Anyone that matches the name.

I find this very inappropriate....it really upset my day because, at first, I didn't even know what the hell it was. (On a funny note, my neighbour said "were they serving you for your singing?"). Being a Sunday, I had to frantically scramble to even figure out what the hell it was that I was reading. Then start delving into it, to find out on my own with the cops waiting in the wings in case it was a fraudulent activity.

So be aware...you can be going about your life, minding your own business and be dragged into something simply by way of a name. Anyhow, I've mailed off the package and am done with it. But these lawyers need to get off their lazy butts and try harder....they're lucky I don't have more time and resources, or I'd drag their sorry asses into court for disrupting my life like this and make them pay. Just seems so wrong.

Anyhow, thanks for listening to my rant. :)

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-DLC- Canucks Hall-of-Famer

-DLC-

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Step One: Throw letters in trash

Step Two: Forget it ever happened

Seriously, if it's not an order to appear in court, nor affecting your credit rating, why are you doing all this?

That's what most people told me the day I got this crap. Unfortunately, the court clerk said I should file some sort of response in order to avoid a judgement being made against me?!!

But it was an amendment to an order or something like that (not up to speed on this stuff) ... it looks like her case was in April and an agreement of sorts was made to make payments...then she likely bolted without following through. So the lawyers involved seem to have filed something in July to take action and serve papers to anyone with the same name in a weeding out process. So I guess those who do respond will likely help narrow things down?

Seems absurd to me. I only answered for my own piece of mind...to know I'd had my say and was finished with it. The other way (to simply ignore it) would have left me wondering "so what's next?"

(the document stated on the bottom that I/we had 21 days to respond). Such absolute BS.

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