Judgement served; now what?

[sooneracct]

I was served papers this week. If I pay this in full before the court date will a judgement be issued on my credit report?

Do I still need to appear in court?

[gagum129]

So you were just served. You do not have a judgment against you yet. I had a similar situation a few years back. I was not aware of the debt, it was something the my ex-wife and I had and I thought was taken care of by her. Anyways, I immediately called the creditor and made a payment to them and never had to go to court. No judgment issued. That was my experience anyways. I guess it would be up to the creditor. I would suggest calling them any paying them in full. If not see if you can make a payment arrangements and not have to go to court. Hope this helps.

[LIGHTNIN]

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@sooneracct wrote:

I was served papers this week. If I pay this in full before the court date will a judgement be issued on my credit report?

Do I still need to appear in court?

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Only a court can issue a judgement. but if the court date is canceled no judgement can be reported on your CR.

Contact who ever is listed on the summons, the creditor or thier attorney.See if you pay before the court date.

Try to get your agreement in writing before paying and make sure they cancel the court date.

Getting an agreement in writing, helps both side understand and what is expected of each other.

Do you still need to appear in court? Yes you show up, unless the court date is canceled.

I too, had the same experience the previous poster had. I paid before the court date and they agreed to cancel court.

Good luck to you

[Anonymous]

I was issued a summons to court in 2006 on an unpaid loan with a credit union.  I immediately contacted the credit union to set up a payment arrangement and issued the court a statement about what we've agreed apon outside of court.  I never went to court and I paid the debt in full within a year but the judegement was still filed and reported so be careful and get everything in writting.  I can't get the judgement removed now so it's killing my approvablity on new debt and hurting my scores...

[MBOhio2]

Trust me, NO creditor wants to go through with a court case... it's super expensive and a hassle. If you call up the creditor and offer to pay asap, they will accept your offer. Just tell them you will pay in exchange for cancelling the court case. After payment is made, the creditor will withdrawl their complaint (the thing they filed to start the court case) and the case will be over. Get it in writing when you pay that the debt is settled in full.

[Anonymous]

You should do what the summons tells you to do. In my state, you have to respond in writing to the Court within 30 as of being served. If you don't, a motion for default judgment will be filed by the plaintiff. Many defendants will call the plaintiff to make arrangements, and are told to "don't worry about those papers, we'll take care of it for you." The attorneys are counting on you to do what they tell you to do, it's in their best interest. Talk to the plaintiff if you must, but keep a record of day, date, time and person that you spoke to and include that in your answer to the court.  Keep a record of your answer for your files, mail one to the court, and another copy to the attorney for the plaintiff.

[RobertEG]

I agree with all that has been posted.

I would only add that you should, in the meantime, determine the expiration of your state statute of limitations on the debt.  If your SOL has expired, then you WANT to go to court, and establish that the SOL has expired.  Put that in your response back to the court, and then just show up in court.  If you can prove it, then it is an absolute legal defense that the court will first consider before hearing the merits of their case.  If the judge agrees that the SOL has expired, you will be granted judgment.

[sooneracct]

Thank you everyone!

I am pretty sure the SOL has not expired, its less than 2 years old.

Many years ago I made installment plans with the creditor and it still was issued as an judgement. I am hoping that they will dismiss it if I pay in full.