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Buying Time on Default Judgment

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time4sax

Guest
What is the name of your state? Arizona

A third party collector has won a default judgment against me through their attorney. They have now filed a petition to garnish my wages. The problem is they sent the petition to my former employer. Now I know it is only a matter of time before they locate my current employer.

I want to file a motion to vacate the judgment but I don't want them to have a chance to garnish my wages at my current employer. I am contemplating filing the petition papers for a Chapter 7 and just allow it to expire without actually filing. I will then present my BK to the courts to stop any garnishment. This would then allow me to file my motions without worrying if I am going to get a garnishment.

Is this a bad strategy? Also can a third party collector sue if they are not the "injured party"? My motion will be based on lack of jurisdiction. Any other suggestions are welcomed. :cool:
 


Ladynred

Senior Member
Lack of jurisdiction ? That might be tough to prove.

If the 3rd party CA PURCHASED the debt, then they DO have the right to sue you. If they were not the owners of the debt, then the original creditor would have to bring suit.

As for filing for BK, once you do that, it goes on your credit report and will stay there, even if you don't go thru with it.

Were you served a summons ? If you'd wanted to avoid the judgment you should have shown up for the court date.
 

bigun

Senior Member
Keep in mind even if you dismiss the bk it will remain on your credit reports for 10 years.
You can't file a bk without actually well. filing. The court is going to want a case# before they grant they stay.
 
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time4sax

Guest
Can't I have the judgement vacated since the third party collector had their attorney file the suit and the original creditor wasn't involved? If so, how? If not, what other grounds could I look for to have it vacated? That is why I thought I could use lack of jurisdiction.

They have never produced a detail statement of debts, only a copy of a signed contract which isn't a certified copied either. Is it too late to request for them to validate the debt?

Also the amounts on the summons is different than the amount the collector said I owed and this doesn't include any fees and interest. Is this something I can use against them?
 

Ladynred

Senior Member
The debt has been reduced to judgment already, so its too late for validation.

I believe what you'd have to prove here is that the collection agency who sued you was NOT the owner of the debt and therefore may not have had the right to sue you. However, you need to check the AZ laws. In some states, like CA, a 3rd-party collector CAN sue, its in the state statutes.

About the only other possible grounds is improper service. If you were not served properly, you can get it vacated. You'd have to get a copy of the proof of service from the court. Again, check the state statutes on what constitutes proper service.

Sounds to me like you have waited far too long to fight this. The time to demand validation was BEFORE they got the default judgment.
 

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