wanting to fix a judgement.

[Anonymous]

I found a judgement on my report that was filed by CitiBank in jan 2010. I never got served and I was reading other posts on here and I found out that I could file a motion to vacate and contact the OC. My question is should I do that ? or should I just make payment arrangements with the court. The reason why I was concerened is because I read someone else's post and they had incur interest charges. What should I do? any help will be appreciated. Thanks

[Hopelives2]

There is a LOT of misinformation out there on how to properly serve notice of a judgment.  I, myself, have been guilty of falling for the misinformation.

You can be "served" via regular US mail.  You can be "served" through an advertisement in the classifieds of the local, last known jurisdictional, newspaper.  You do NOT need to be served in the dark of the night by a sheriff, or by certified mail.  All the creditor needs to show a court is a photocopy of a letter they sent and you are "served" ... YMMV depending on jurisdiction.  I happen to live in a creditor friendly state, unfortunately.

Asking a creditor to vacate a judgment is very difficult without either paying for the judgment (satisfying it), or filing for bankruptcy.

What I would do is offer to settle the account with the creditor for 1/2 what the judgment says IF they remove it from your CR.  Plead a sob story - not that you didn't get it but ... something as to why you did not pay them and they had to chase you to court to get the right to take your bank account funds AND garnish your wages (which they were granted with that judgment).

My understanding with a judgment is that the interest accrues to the date of the judgment but fees to have the funds taken from bank accounts, or garnishment of wages can and will be added.

I know when I chased down some tenants many years ago, it cost me about $250 to file the appropriate papers with the courts to take their funds in bank accounts and also to garnish their wages.  That $250 was on top of the judgment for $2000.

I got all of it.  Then the people asked me to file a vacate form and settlement, which I did.  I also notified the CRs to have it removed from their CRs.

[guiness56]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I found a judgement on my report that was filed by CitiBank in jan 2010. I never got served and I was reading other posts on here and I found out that I could file a motion to vacate and contact the OC. My question is should I do that ? or should I just make payment arrangements with the court. The reason why I was concerened is because I read someone else's post and they had incur interest charges. What should I do? any help will be appreciated. Thanks

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What is considered proper service depends on the state you live in.  If you were not properly served, per your states laws, yes, you can file a motion to vacate.  If that happens, the creditor can probably still sue you again.  Depends on what the judge says.

I would go or contact the court house where the judgment was obtained and get copies of everything.  See what they have as far as serving you.

Yes, again depending on your state laws, a judgment can accrue interest.

[Anonymous]

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@Hopelives2 wrote:

There is a LOT of misinformation out there on how to properly serve notice of a judgment.  I, myself, have been guilty of falling for the misinformation.

You can be "served" via regular US mail.  You can be "served" through an advertisement in the classifieds of the local, last known jurisdictional, newspaper.  You do NOT need to be served in the dark of the night by a sheriff, or by certified mail.  All the creditor needs to show a court is a photocopy of a letter they sent and you are "served" ... YMMV depending on jurisdiction.  I happen to live in a creditor friendly state, unfortunately.

Asking a creditor to vacate a judgment is very difficult without either paying for the judgment (satisfying it), or filing for bankruptcy.

What I would do is offer to settle the account with the creditor for 1/2 what the judgment says IF they remove it from your CR.  Plead a sob story - not that you didn't get it but ... something as to why you did not pay them and they had to chase you to court to get the right to take your bank account funds AND garnish your wages (which they were granted with that judgment).

My understanding with a judgment is that the interest accrues to the date of the judgment but fees to have the funds taken from bank accounts, or garnishment of wages can and will be added.

I know when I chased down some tenants many years ago, it cost me about $250 to file the appropriate papers with the courts to take their funds in bank accounts and also to garnish their wages.  That $250 was on top of the judgment for $2000.

I got all of it.  Then the people asked me to file a vacate form and settlement, which I did.  I also notified the CRs to have it removed from their CRs.

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I'm not sure what state you are in, but I have never seen a state which allows initial service of a Summons & Complaint by normal mail.  As for service by publication, you need special permission from the court to do that after you have shown that the debtor cannot be reasonably located via other methods and / or you have exhausted attempts to find out where they currently reside.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I found a judgement on my report that was filed by CitiBank in jan 2010. I never got served and I was reading other posts on here and I found out that I could file a motion to vacate and contact the OC. My question is should I do that ? or should I just make payment arrangements with the court. The reason why I was concerened is because I read someone else's post and they had incur interest charges. What should I do? any help will be appreciated. Thanks

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Get a copy of the court files to determine just how they say you were served.  After researching your state's civil procedure law to see if you were, in fact, not properly served, you can file a Motion to Vacate with the court. 

The court will notify the judgment creditor and if they make an appearance the court will generally hold a hearing.  If the judgment creditor knowingly attempted sewer service and / or was misleading in how service was performed, sometimes you can get the judge to sanction the judgment creditor by dismissing their action with prejudice.  Otherwise, if still within the statute of limitations, you can be served right there in court with a new lawsuit.

[Hopelives2]

I am not

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Hopelives2 wrote:

There is a LOT of misinformation out there on how to properly serve notice of a judgment.  I, myself, have been guilty of falling for the misinformation.

You can be "served" via regular US mail.  You can be "served" through an advertisement in the classifieds of the local, last known jurisdictional, newspaper.  I happen to live in a creditor friendly state, unfortunately.

---

I'm not sure what state you are in, but I have never seen a state which allows initial service of a Summons & Complaint by normal mail.  As for service by publication, you need special permission from the court to do that after you have shown that the debtor cannot be reasonably located via other methods and / or you have exhausted attempts to find out where they currently reside.

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I am unwilling to state where I live but can assure you mail is simply fine and dandy here - up to and including foreclosure papers.  The only thing ever served upon me by FEDEX was the vacate the premises paperwork; the bk, the judgments, the foreclosure were all via regular USPS.

[Anonymous]

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@Hopelives2 wrote:

I am not

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Hopelives2 wrote:

There is a LOT of misinformation out there on how to properly serve notice of a judgment.  I, myself, have been guilty of falling for the misinformation.

You can be "served" via regular US mail.  You can be "served" through an advertisement in the classifieds of the local, last known jurisdictional, newspaper.  I happen to live in a creditor friendly state, unfortunately.

---

I'm not sure what state you are in, but I have never seen a state which allows initial service of a Summons & Complaint by normal mail.  As for service by publication, you need special permission from the court to do that after you have shown that the debtor cannot be reasonably located via other methods and / or you have exhausted attempts to find out where they currently reside.

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I am unwilling to state where I live but can assure you mail is simply fine and dandy here - up to and including foreclosure papers.  The only thing ever served upon me by FEDEX was the vacate the premises paperwork; the bk, the judgments, the foreclosure were all via regular USPS.

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I think you are confused about initial service when a lawsuit is initiated and service of subsequent notices. 

In a civil action initiated by service of a Summons & Complaint, service of the Summons & Complaint cannot be accomplsihed simply via First Class Mail alone in any state.  The mail may be used in Nail & Mail, but that involves the physical posting of the court documents at the debtor's residence.  

Once initial service has been accomplished, any subsequent documents can be served by First Class Mail. 

In OP's case, if they were not personally served, there is a very good chance service was not made properly.

[Hopelives2]

O6,

I can assure you I am not confused about anything and insinuating such is insulting.

I worked for attorneys, I served papers on people in my state for judgments.

Furthermore, I am well aware of what a summons and complaint is.  If you had access to L/N tool, and had my full name, you'd see how well aware I am with the court system, and civ pro.

Likewise, I AM telling you in MY state which is VERY CREDITOR friendly, USPS is perfectly legit, and upheld in the courts.

Have a nice day.

[Anonymous]

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@Hopelives2 wrote:

O6,

I can assure you I am not confused about anything and insinuating such is insulting.

I worked for attorneys, I served papers on people in my state for judgments.

Furthermore, I am well aware of what a summons and complaint is.  If you had access to L/N tool, and had my full name, you'd see how well aware I am with the court system, and civ pro.

Likewise, I AM telling you in MY state which is VERY CREDITOR friendly, USPS is perfectly legit, and upheld in the courts.

Have a nice day.

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You might want to resit the Minnesota bar exam. 

Unless you have somehow convinced the state legislature to revise the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure within the last, say, ten minutes, service by first class mail is only -- yes, only -- considered valid service when the individual so served files a written acknowledgement that they received the mailing.  This is the same as in California and a multitude of other states as well as in federal courts.  According to MN RCP and the MN Supreme Court, service via First Flass Mail is ineffective and fails to allow the court to obtain personal jurisdiction unless acknowledged by the defendant in writing using the appropriate form which must also be included in the mailing.

The statement that "All the creditor needs to show a court is a photocopy of a letter they sent and you are 'served'" is false.