Judgment passed with knowing it

Submitted by sweetiesmith on Wed, 02/20/2008 - 19:56
Forums

Last year I apparently was sent papers order to appear in court to an address that I hadn't lived at in over two years. Since i did not appear in court, a judgment was passed and law fees were added on to the judgment. When i found out I was severed and I didn't live at the residence that the law firm had served, I tried calling and talking to the law firm. Basically they told me it wasn't their problem that I didn't live there. What can I do to get the judgment retracted/over turned? I never even knew I had to go to court in the the first place.

You can put in a request to have the judgement vacated and get another hearing.

Be careful thought because they can go after your bank account!

Wed, 02/20/2008 - 20:02 Permalink

Did someone file a judgment against you? If they did, there is a chance you can get it dismissed or "vacated." Vacating a judgment is basically the equivalent of stamping a big fat red "VOID" on the judgment paperwork.

Filing a motion to dismiss a judgment is like filing an appeal on the outcome of a jury trial. If the outcome was not fair, and you have good reason why the court should overturn its prior ruling, you should file a motion. Don't be intimidated by the thought that you are challenging a court ruling, it happens all of the time.

As with many collection agencies, many people who file lawsuits to collect money from you in court didn't follow the law. You may be asking yourself why the judge didn't know about this improper deviation. As in most professions, judges tend to specialize in one type of case. For the same reason that you can't expect a heart surgeon to know the best psychiatric medications to prescribe to a patient with schizophrenia, a judge doing small claims or injury lawsuits may not be intimately familiar with consumer law. Sure they know the basics, but one person can't know everything. Before deciding on a case, most judges need to look up and study existing statutes and case rulings. In addition, if the person who sues says they followed the correct procedure and the defendant or his lawyer does not dispute it, it's a sure bet they were given the benefit of the doubt.

Go to google and search for this: how to get a judgement vacated

Follow the links you see. You will need to find how to file a motion to have it vacated. Alternatively you could hire an attorney to do this for you, but it would cost you and I do not know your financial situation.

Wed, 02/20/2008 - 21:06 Permalink

Odd, I had a notifcation that there was a new post here but there isn't. OP if you need any assistance feel free to ask here. If you would like specific links, please send me a PM and I would be more than happy to help you there!

Wed, 02/20/2008 - 23:02 Permalink
Helen McBride (not verified)

Contract agreement is unenforceable, reason- undue influence, attorney/client Helen Doesn’t have the mental capacity to make any decision and undue process violation. ADA violation- Title II- reasonable accomodation-would have allow her to bring supporting documentation back to court.

Here presents Helen McBride who has been diagnosed with frontal temporal dementia on 11/15/05. She suffered an altered mental state during the settlement conference meeting. Therefore, she did not have the mental capacity to make any decision. She did not knowingly make any agreement.

Wed, 03/05/2008 - 14:18 Permalink