I am in Massachusetts and need help vacating a judgement. I was involved in a ltigiation and lost. A judgement was entered by the Court against me. I would like to pay (satisfy) the judgement. I would like to then immediately move to have the judgement vacated. Mass Rules of Civil Proc. Rule 60(b)(5) (which is identical to the corresponding Federal rule) gives the court the discretion to vacate a judgement if it has indeed been satisfied. The problem is that hte jusge, shall we say, is not on my side. I am concerned that my motion to vacate would be denied. Any help/advice in making such a motion more likely to succeed is much appreciated! Thank you!
Can you give us some more specifics? How old is the judgement? What court are you in (small claims, county, etc)? How much is it for? Why is the judge not on your side?
The judgement is 2 month old and is for $2.5k which includes interest. This action started in small claims ($1500) and was transfered (by me) to a regular civil docket. I lost. Judgment was entered against me. I appealed to the appelate division of the District Court. I lost the appeal. I did not appeal to teh Appeals Court. The other party moved to assess appellate costs ($40.00) AND apelate attorney's fees ($5k). I opposed attorney's fees. The law was on my side wrt attorney's fees. Very reluctantly the judge ruled in my favor and did not allow legal fees. Judgement was recalculated to include $40.00 of costs and interest since teh original judgment. A couple of weeks ago the other party obtained writ of execution but has not yet served it on me. I tried to offer teh otehr party an extra $1k in exchange for filing a joint or and ascended-to motion under 60(b)(5) to vacate judgement. They declined. The other party is really mad that they spent over $10k to recover $2.5k (including interest) after a two year long litigation. I have not yet satisfied the judgement, although that is my intent. Basically my goal is to pay up, but to not have a satisifed judgement on my credit file for the next five years. Any help is much apreciated!!! Thank you.
They laid out $10k in legal and court costs to collect the debt and are only coming after you for $2500? Wow. Well, I don't know MA's laws on this, but it sounds like you do. Can they garnish your wages over this? What about assets? I would send a certified letter (with signature receipt) that reads something like this: "Dear ___, Without admitting liability or validity for any debt, I wish to propose a swift and agreeable resolution to this matter. I am offering a one-time settlement in the amount of $3500 to be paid no later than xx/xx/xx. As part of this settlement, you agree to vacate your judgement against me. Although I am investigating all available options, I believe this represents the most fair and agreeable manner in which to bring this matter to a swift and beneficial close without the need for further legal action." I'm guessing here, I've never had any experience with judgements. But if I was into someone for $12500 and could only get $2500 back, I'd happily take the extra $1000 if it meant dropping the judgement. If he agreed to the settlement and then failed to help vacate, you might be able to go after him for breach of contract or something similar. It sounds weak, but absent any further help from one of the more experienced posters, you alternative is to just suffer with a dinged report for five years.
Who is the judgment from? What can they attach? Are you employed? Massachusetts has been known to throw you in jail if you do not comply : ( Let me know who came after you and what district court you did this in or did you move to Federal? I cannot understand that if they got a judgment from you why they would not want to take the cash NOW and be done with it, unless of course they know you are going to be pretty easy to get the money from. Woofer
I am in district court. The other party has gotten a real estate attachement on my house (for five times the amount of judgment although the size is not relevant) The other party has also gotten a writ of execution. The other party knows they will be able to collect. Nor do I have any intention of not paying. My questions is really a legal one. What argument can/should I present in my motion to vacate a satisifed judgment? Again, the Mass R.C.P. allow the Court to vacate a satisfied judgemnt. However, the decision is left to the Court's broad discretion. So the question is how to I present this so that a denial of the motion to vacata a satisfied judgement wold clearly be seen by the appelate court as abuse of discretion? Thanks.
So you are going to pay this amount????Hard to really give you too much specific advice without knowing who got the judgement and what CA you are dealing with and what the amount is The five times amount???? I believe you would do best in hiring a lawyer to get this taken care of. ias n the long ride it wil be cheaper and your lawyer will tie up any loose ends and get a better deal for you, UNLESS you are a better negotiator. Some people are most lay people are not. I also can tell you that they WILL deal especially in this day and age, BUT they can smell scared, and this will get them to pounce on you . Again get yourself a lawyer as there maybe something that could even be done to get you from out of this mess. I cannot fathom paying offa judgement that was so much more than the original debt. Of course everyone is different. Good luck Woofer
Thanks for your replies! There is not CA. The other party (a private business) was using an attorney in the litigation. I was not suggesting payingthe $15k they have gotten an attachement for. Again, the judgment is for ~$2500. I can, and plan to pay this amount. I'd then be done with the whole ting except for the judgment being listed on my credit file for the next seven years. I offered to pay an extra $1000 in exchange for them to ascend to a motion to vacate the judgment. They declined. Yes, I can try to negotiate with them furhter. However, since the law allows (not directs) the Court to vacate the judgment that has been sattsifeed (presumably so that the plaintiff would not try to collect on the judgmeent more than once) I wanted to explore that option. I am need to make an argument that once satisifed the judgement should be vacated.
Just a shot in the dark here: Have they ever done anything that demonstrates unethical behavior? Any unprofessional, confrontational conduct? My only suggestion would be to argue that their behavior indicates a likelihood of such action, but this is getting beyond a simple credit issue and really into the realm of general legal strategy.
This poster has FIVE TIMES the amount of the debt on a lien on her home, And this is why I suggested a lawyer. You know I have dealt with quite a few suits and consider myself pretty savvy, HOWEVER I have found when you really want to tie up ALL loose ends now and in the future a good lawyer can do you well. The other suggestion to the poster, go get yourself a Homestead. You can do it yourself (I believe now it is $30 and it guards against any liens in the future on your home up to 500K. Good luck! Woofer
Yeah, if the OP has the money to spend, a lawyer would be a good move to make sure everything is on the up and up. But if the OP simply plans on paying the judgement, I don't see how the collector can come after her for the remaining balance. Come to think of it, maybe a lawyer can file a suit over the excessive nature of the lein and use that as leverage for vacating the judgement.
Again, Thank you for the replies! Homestead is irrelevant as I have more than $500k in equity in the property. The other party has done some eggregious things during litigation and has committed fraud on the court although that may be difficult to prove. The fact that they have requested (and were granted) an attachement for more than 5x the judgement is certainly an argument to be used in teh motion to vacate.
WHY is it irrelevant? My home is worth much more than 500K BUT at least if someone were to put a lien on it they would not touch the first 500K. Also I do not understand why you feel if you pay them $2500 they would then take the lien off your property. You seem to ask questions but never answer the questions or like the answers. Anyway I am done with this. Good luck to you. Woofer
You have been given good advice.I gather you would much rather settle than anything else.so this is becoming moot In less they can assure you in writing then everything your doing is going to be a deadend.However you will have your day in court.Good luck.
- Homestead is irrelevant because the attachment is for $15k which is less than the difference between my equity (not home value) and the homestead protection. As an example, suppose your house is worth $1mill and you have $600k in equity. the first $500k of the equity is protected by homestead. the remaining $100k is not. Homestead would only be detrimental to teh creditor if they needed to collect more than $100k. - The attachement will (if it has not already - I have to check the timing) be automatically dissolved. The issuance of the writ of execution triggers the dissolvement of the writ of attachement. Essentially one replaces the other. I have no concern over the other party trying to colelct more than the judgement amount. My only concern is with respect to the impact to my credit score of a satisfied judgement. This is where I was seeking help. Thank you again.
For someone who is so concerned about their credit score and could care less about giving more than is asked, I find it odd that you are not being represented by a lawyer. You come here with an holier than thou attitude me thinks. ACK! I KNOW the difference between HOME VALUE and EQUITY. I do not have a mortgage and when I say my home is worth...yada yada it means to me what I can get for it right now as it is ALL mine ,not a banks. Woofer
