Judgement Question?

[ABattle]

I have 2 judgements that I need to pay.  Is not being served a valid reason to get the judgement removed.  One is for a dentist office that I never recieved a summons for that I have no problem paying but would like to get it removed.  The other is for an apartment complex.  I broke my lease but only b/c they wouldn't come & fix the floors & it was unsafe for me since I was pregnant at the time.  But they didn't serve me.  I kinda want to fight this in court but not sure what leg I have to stand on.  Any thoughts?

[leah5570]

Friendly bump. Wait for the pros, but if you weren't served or served properly, there is a route to take as you were not given the opportunity to appear, and the judgement was placed on you in default for missing your opportunity to speak.

From: http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/Rule4.htm

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure:

If a defendant is not served within 120 days after the complaint is filed, the court — on motion or on its own after notice to the plaintiff — must dismiss the action without prejudice against that defendant or order that service be made within a specified time. But if the plaintiff shows good cause for the failure, the court must extend the time for service for an appropriate period. This subdivision (m) does not apply to service in a foreign country under Rule 4(f) or 4(j)(1).

[RobertEG]

A bit confusing.  Did you have a copy of a public record showing that an order of judgment was actually entered against you by a court?

If not, you may not have a  legal judgment.

If you were not properly served notice of legal action against you, then either a judgment was never made by the court, or possibly was made at trial without prior notice to you of your right to be present, and defend the action..

If it is in your CR, then you should be able to identify the alleged court of jurisdiction.  Once you know that, contact the clerk of that court and get a copy of any judgment issued.

That is your starting point.

Courts normally dont diretly report judgments to the CRAs.  If the prevaIling party in a court judgment chooses to post to your CR, that is their option.  However, that is not the sole means for entry of judgments into your CR.  Court orders are public records.  CAs and OCs hire private investigators to review your legal records, and attempt to locate juggments against you.  Once located, they can then be reported.  But the reporter does not usually know the full legal history.

You dispute with the one who reported.

I suggest that you investgate the court history or the purported judgment, and know who reported it.

[Anonymous]

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@ABattle wrote:

I have 2 judgements that I need to pay.  Is not being served a valid reason to get the judgement removed.  One is for a dentist office that I never recieved a summons for that I have no problem paying but would like to get it removed.  The other is for an apartment complex.  I broke my lease but only b/c they wouldn't come & fix the floors & it was unsafe for me since I was pregnant at the time.  But they didn't serve me.  I kinda want to fight this in court but not sure what leg I have to stand on.  Any thoughts?

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The first step is obtaining copies of the two judgments and all relevant documents from the court clerk's office.  Once you see how, when and where they supposedly served you then you can formulate a plan of action which might include filing a Motion to Vacate.

Keep in mind, though, that just because you never saw the papers served on you does not at all mean you were not properly served.  In broken lease suits it is often entirely likely and proper to have you served by nail & mail at the address that you vacated.