Complicated story here, I used to live in NJ and moved in February 2005 to Maryland. In December 2005 a judgment was entered against me in NJ courts by Unifund for an unpaid credit card debt of $8k. I was living in Maryland at the time and was never served any notice at all. I wasn't even aware of the judgment until 2008 when I started my road back to credit recovery after a business I started really took off. Arguing with the court over the phone was useless and frustrating and they said that papers were delivered and signed back in December 2005.
I stated impossible but got no where. Dummy me let it sit and worked on paying everything else off with plans to revisit. Well everything is all paid off except this one judgment. I just got a letter in the mail that the judgment now became a Foreign Judgment and filed in the state of Maryland. Now I want this done with once and for all as the judgment falls off my credit report in December. I spoke with a lawyer in Maryland and after discussing it, they said I could most likely get it halted in Maryland if I can prove I lived in Maryland when the papers were "signed for". I dug up taxes, drivers license, business papers etc to prove i was in Maryland in December 2005.
It turns out that I lived with my parents when I was in NJ and that is where the judgment papers were sent to. My father, who has the same name as me, signed the papers. We were on the outs at the time and I never was told. So I can prove that the papers were delivered to his address where he lived for 26 years and that I resided in Maryland for all of 2005. The lawyer said though that the main judgment is still in NJ and must be fought there, the foreign judgment just makes it legal to collect in Maryland.
My questions are as follows, should I file a motion to vacate in NJ or should I call Unifund or the law office from the judgment and state that I am speaking to a lawyer and can prove I wasn't served and make a deal to settle if they vacate the judgment themselves? My next question is that I was quoted $185/hour for a lawyer with an estimated 8 hours of work. So thats roughly $1500. The original debt is 10 years old, if the judgment is vacated by myself, without trying to deal, is the statute of limitations on the debt passed? If so, I would hire the lawyer to help me as I would be paying just $1500 instead of the $8000 bill.
If the bill still stands due to it being in judgment, then I don't think its worth spending $1500 to get the judgment removed if I'll have to pay the $8000 regardless. I would have no problem driving the 3 hours to NJ to fill out a vacate judgment paperwork but i'm worried its too hard. So what is the best course of action here, try and settle since I can prove I can most likely vacate or try to vacate on my own then deal or hope the limitations has passed?
