Should I Sign Agreed Judgement??

[Anonymous]

This law firm has only sent me a letter saying they are handling the account from now on. No threat of legal action yet. Also if the legal suit is in one state but you work in another, can they still garnish? I'm going to go to court and fight if it comes to it.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
This law firm has only sent me a letter saying they are handling the account from now on. No threat of legal action yet. Also if the legal suit is in one state but you work in another, can they still garnish? I'm going to go to court and fight if it comes to it.

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I cant answer the first part.

I can CHEER you on for the second part!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
This law firm has only sent me a letter saying they are handling the account from now on. No threat of legal action yet. Also if the legal suit is in one state but you work in another, can they still garnish? I'm going to go to court and fight if it comes to it.

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They can, but they gotta jump through some hoops to do so. Basically they would have to have the foreign judgement "domesticated" to a court in your state. Then they could pursue a garnishment, or property seizure.

[Anonymous]

^^ What NormanH said - however they cannot garnish until they actually sue.   First they have to sue, then you go to court, then they have to get a garnishment order.  I don't know why they would go to the expense of filing suit and paying attorney's fees if you are making payments.    Keep doing what you are and keep good records.   IF you get sued - then you have a defense that you are paying and at worst the court could enter a judgment for the new balance due.   I'd just wait.   Oh and if you get it paid to $0 - get a letter or something from BBT sayings it's paid in full!

[Anonymous]

Welp, the law firm sent me a huge packet of paper of all the missed payments and my letter offering a payment plan. Meanwhile BB&T is still cashing my checks and reflecting it in the account. So I guess I just sit and wait? I'm ready to take a day off and go to court, these people annoy me to no end. I make payments, they are trying to scare me. My question, should I send them copies of cancelled checks or just let a sleeping dog lay? I feel like BB&T isn't talking to the law firm. Not that I care but I'd rather not lose a sick day to this waste of time. What to do next? I will continue to make payments regardless...

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Welp, the law firm sent me a huge packet of paper of all the missed payments and my letter offering a payment plan. Meanwhile BB&T is still cashing my checks and reflecting it in the account. So I guess I just sit and wait? I'm ready to take a day off and go to court, these people annoy me to no end. I make payments, they are trying to scare me. My question, should I send them copies of cancelled checks or just let a sleeping dog lay? I feel like BB&T isn't talking to the law firm. Not that I care but I'd rather not lose a sick day to this waste of time. What to do next? I will continue to make payments regardless...

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I would send them photocopies of all the supposed "missed payments". Let them know you are keeping records of everything.

[Anonymous]

Without reading your contractual obligation to BB&T, I am going to assume somethings. 

1. At some point you defaulted, causing them to refer collection out to a law firm. 

2. Once you have defaulted, the contract usually contains an acceleration agreement, that allows BB&T to demand payment in full. 

3. Of course BB&T is going to accept your payments, but you defaulted, so the law firm is enforcing the contractual right BB&T has to demand payment in full. 

4. So, even though you are making payments to BB&T, you are still in breach of your contract, which allows the law firm to seek a judgment. It is not malicious prosecution as someone stated before. One of the elements of malicious prosecution is lack of probable cause, the firm has probable cause as you stated before you went into default. 

5. Do not sign the agreement they offered you. You can negotiate a better one. 

6. If you have been served with a complaint FILE AN ANSWER, most people don't do this. By doing this you force the other side into negotiations with you, and it makes it much more difficult for the plaintiff to get a judgment. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My attorney during my divorce had me sign a consent judgement for the remainder of the balance. It never hit my credit report. My, perhaps flawed, understanding is that consent judgements are a binding agreement that if you default on agreed payments a formal judgement will be entered. As long as you make the payments on time, it will not be reported as such. That being said, it may be wise to pay for a few hours of an attorney's time for definitive answers. 

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I also had a similar consent judgement in family court that never appeared in any of my credit reports. I'm thinking that because there were child custody issues involved, the entire case file is sealed and cannot be searched by CRA's

[Anonymous]

I have not been formally "served". How do I go about filing An Answer? I've tried legal aid and they won't call back or even research an answer

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I have not been formally "served". How do I go about filing An Answer? I've tried legal aid and they won't call back or even research an answer

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Your county court clerk will be able to give you the response filing paperwork you would need, though they can't guide you on filling them out. You pretty much just simply deny all allegations made by the plaintiff at this point, and thats gets you before the judge. At that point you would ask for a continuance to give you time to prepare your evidence and allow for "discovery" of the plaintiffs evidence.

Lot of resources online as to how you can defend yourself in civil court without an attorney. Time to start googling....