Judgement?

[481]

Yesterday I received a letter in the mail which appeared to be a judgement from a law firm. It does not list a date or time I should appear in court, but said I should sign the letter within 20 days to acknowledge I received it otherwise the cost of "serving" would be passed on to me. The total amount owing is $284. Any thoughts on this? I've never dealt with a judgement before and I have a couple questions:

1. Can they mail it?

2. Why is there no court date? The top of the letter has a court listed (no address or time).

3. If I take no action they say they will win on default. I assume that means they will garnish wages. Currently, I have no job.

What should I do. I can pay them after the holidays. Should I send them a PFD? I know the debt is valid. No judgements are showing on my credit report. Thanks for any advice.

[Anonymous]

I would first call the court on Monday to see if a case has been filed.

Notice of a court case always comes from the court if mailed.  I have never known a court to allow a party to the case to mail notice to the other.

If they are representing that they have filed a case and didn't they are in violation IMO.

[481]

I will call the court on Monday (although the notice did not list a phone number). If they did not file a case yet, what grounds do I have to pursue legal actions?

1. If a summons is issued can the Law Firm issue it, or does the court? The envelope was mailed from the Law Firm's address using their stationary. There was no reference to the judicial system other than the name of the court on top of the letter.

2. Has anybody ever seen a judgement for $300 bucks?

The original debt was for 542 bucks, I paid half. It's not even 2 years old yet and the SOL is 7 years in my state. Does this seem odd that they would do this?

Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

[Red1Blue]

You can goto court and talk to judge and see if they would dimiss the case.   If you can afford the money, I would say, pay it and take care of it before they officially obtains a judgment against  you. I have dealth with 3 judgements due to poor health. Trust me it is not worth your time and money, especially for $300. Try to borrow from a friend and take care of it.