Back in 1995 in was going to a chiropractor and had thought that it was covered by my insurance. As it turns out, my insurance was only covering 75% of the costs, and the Chiropractor sent me a big fat bill (~$1,000) about 2 months after my treatments were over. The problems is that I had moved, so I never received the bill. About 1 1/2 years later I got a call from an attorney at my other residents, saying they had gotten a judgement against me, and to pay the amount or they were going to garnish my wages. I paid the amount immediately, and told him that I was unaware that I ever owed this debt. Well now there is a paid judgement on my credit report dated in 1997. I tried to dispute it with the credit bureaus, the verified it. And when I called, they said they verified that there was a judgement at the courthouse. I'm pissed!!!! I didn't deserve this, and was unaware that I ever owed this money. Do I have any other options? thanks (and btw, my back still aches ) Joe
Unfortunately, you may be shafted because you already paid the bill/judgment, so you probably cannot claim that you were never served, although it sounds like you weren't. You may want to call the courthouse and find out how to get a copy of the judgment file. I don't know what state you live in, but it's *possible* that you can still file a motion to vacate even though you settled the debt by other means. If you have a letter from the atty after the debt was settled, that may help...plus the fact that the court summons was probably sent to your old address
Actually, if you were never served, how did they get a judgment? If you weren't served, you can go to the courthouse and check the records. If there is an affidavit of service there that says you were personally served and you weren't, tell the clerk you want to file a motion to dismiss judgment or a motion to quash. You will then have to go to a hearing and if you can show that you were not served, the judgment will be vacated. You may want to call the attorney for the chiro. and ask him who and where, when etc. was someone served. Good Luck.
Re: Hey Lionel I got a call from an attorney at my other residents, saying they had gotten a judgement against me, and to pay the amount or they were going to garnish my wages. I paid the ================== IS this all you ever got = nothing in writing???
Re: Hey Lionel no, you actually should have gotten court documents in your hot little hands: a summons saying you were being summoned in small claims court with a time/date/room for the hearing. If you didn't show, and the plainitff did, the plaintiff would have received a 'default' judgment, meaning they won just because you weren't there to present your side of the case. Most likely the summons was delivered to your other residence, and there is a proof of service at that address in your file. You must get a copy of the file to see how you can proceed. (In CA it was only a few [less than 10]bucks). Then call the small claims advocacy at the courthouse to see if you can get it vacated or appealed, even though it was already paid.
Re: Hey Lionel IF you can prove that you didn't live at the address they served, and therefore never received the summons, you can probably get it vacated. breeze
