Hey Breeze! I remember I got your email and screen caps before.. I was looking through them and had a few questions. 1. How long had it been since the judgement was entered? 2. Was it paid/satisfied when you went to vacate it? 3. Do you know if there is an SOL as to when you can try and 'vacate' it after it is entered? How about after it has been paid? My argument is that I was never served properly. I already found out that the other side is not going to fight it.. does that mean that once I file the paperwork and the other side doesn't show up, that the court will order it to be vacated/expunged from record? Thanks..
1. In my case the judgment was entered in 1995, vacated in 1999 (I think) 2. It was paid/settled before it ever went to court. The whole thing was a stupid lawyers mistake - or just not caring 3. Normally, in VA after 2 years you can't do anything about it, except if you were not properly served, or if the plaintiff's lawyer signs a joint petition to vacate - that's what I got. If they don't answer, in your case, it should be vacated. They wouldn't sign a joint petition to vacate? If they would do that, I think there isn't even a hearing.
Cool, thanks for your words breeze.. i dunno how much luck I'll have asking their attornies to sign too..
Breeze, I have a judgement in VA right now. Actually, I just paid it last month. How were you served there? I don't think that I was served properly, because I was not living in the state at the time of the serving. They just posted it on the door of my last know address. My mother still lives there.
If you had not changed you address on your DL, or given a forwarding address at the PO, then you were properly served. Virginia law allows it to be fastened to the door of your last known address.
Ender: I've successfully vacated judgments for myself in Alexandria City and Fairfax Co courts by attacking service of process. My experience has been that judges will still question you a bit on the details of the service of process when the defendant doesn't show, but what I've done is brought a letter to the court from the creditor stating that "all amounts owed have been settled and we will not oppose the Plaintiff's motion to vacate". After reading that, all 3 judges accepted my admittedly very flimsy explanations for why the service of process was defective. By the way, 2 of the 3 judgments were vacated more than 2 years after the entry of judgment against me. I'll be happy to try and answer any questions you (or anyone else) might have.
patent, on your judgments, were you served personally? Or did they give the documents to someone else.
Wow, thanks for the information! The question I have: 1. How did you go about obtaining a letter of agreement from the creditor? Or did you receive this before you paid? 2. Do you still have the original letters you used? 3. The county is a few hour drive for me.. is there any way I can submit the documents via mail? Thx in advance..
In my case the creditor has also stated that they would not appear in court if I wanted to vacate. They got their money so why do they care. My concern is that if I try to go the "improperly servied" route, it might backfire because I was served the papers via return mail and I signed for it. I'm sure they have this on file somewhere. Also, would the courts have record of any disputes from the CRAs??? I've disputed mine a total of three times (once w/ TU and twice w/ Experian). Ender: You can submit the documents by mail. Just call the courts and ask them what you have to do. In my case, I sent them the document along w/ a self address stamped 8 1/2 x 11 envelope and a check for the fee so they could return correspondance to me. In that envelope they sent my court form back along with my check and a letter stating that my form had to by typed and also that the address for the Plantiff that I listed was NOT the same as what was on the original document that they plantiff submitted.
====================== If the account was closed before it got to court where was there any case to try in court? How could there have been a judgment when there was no trial?
Are you saying you sent copies of your disputes to the CRA to the court? What county is your judgement in if I may ask? We are both in CA.. I wonder if there is an attorney that will do the legwork for us and file the papers necessary? Know of any attorneys that can do this? I would be willing to pay $200 or so just to file papers.. doesn't seem too hard for an attorney to do.
...need help vacating a judgment Before I file a motion to vacate, I need some input please. I got copies of the judgment from the courthouse-by the way I'm in AZ and this is for an apt complex. On the first page there are 4 names listed for the defendant but two are crossed out (not by me). On the second page all four names are listed unaltered. There is a box that says "...defendant hereby waives any rights to reconsideration or appeal". Someone put an "x" in this box and then scratched it out. There are also amounts that are listed that have been crossed out and edited. I don't know who made these changes, but would this not be grounds to vacate? Plus, it states on the second page that they attempted service but no one was home so they "posted a copy on the door" and mailed one certified to the address. There is a copy of the certified mail receipt but there are no signatures on it. Is that not considered improper service? I would really appreciate any help! I was shafted by my ex-roommate and I need to get this taken care of.
Re: ...need help vacating a judgment You need to check AZ statutes to see what constitutes proper service. Laws are different in different states. Were you not at that address at that time? Did they have reason to believe that you lived there?
Re: ...need help vacating a judgment Yes, I was still living there, but wasn't there at the time, so I don't know who (if anyone) signed for the registered mail though. It was the last month of the lease.
Re: ...need help vacating a judgment Question about this judgement stuff...if a judgement is from 1998, can the plantiff's attorney try and attach your house or put a lien on a car or anything? I'm helping a buddy with what I think is an improper judgement because the OC was paid off using a debt counseling service. The judgement was obtained while he was still in the plan.
