Received Judgment in mail

What is the name of your state? NJ

I received a "Notice To Judgment Debtor" in the mail yesterday. It was filed by an attorney who represents a collections agency seeking $10,000 from me.

Here is the story, I had a credit card in 1994 (while living in NY) which my X-Wife never paid (card was in my name). Bad move on my part not taking care of this back then, because the card was in my name. Anyway, credit limit on the card was $5,000. A judgement was originally filed in NY (Which I never knew about) in 1997. I became aware of this when I ran my credit report 2 years ago. I disputed the judgement, and after an investigation, the credit unions removed it from my credit report. I thought this was resolved. Over the past 4 years I have been focusing on improving my credit and now this happens.

Yesterday, I received a judgment from the superior court of NJ stating that under the "Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act" a new judment has been filed in my state of residence (NJ). What should I do? Your help and advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Matt

[JETX]

"What should I do?"
*** If I understand your post correctly, a judgment was rendered against you in New York in 1997, for a debt which card was "in 1994". The judgment creditor has now filed to get the NY judgment domesticated into NJ.
If the above is correct, there is nothing wrong with that process.

The only out that I see is your claim that you were not aware of the judgment. If correct, you need to contact the original court (in NY) and get a copy of the 'notice of service' document(s). They will show what service was made, on how, when and by whom. When you get them, if the service was NOT made on you per NY law, then you could file a "Motion to Set Aside" or vacate the judgment against you. If you do that, then the domestication in NJ would be stopped. Also, when you get the documents from the NY court and if they show improper service, go to court in NJ at the time/date required and offer the 'failure to properly serve' defense.

Thank so much for your reply. I never knew of this judgment in NY and do not remember ever being served with papers from the original judgment in NY. The judgment is for $10,000. They only way I found out was when I ran my credit report and saw the judgment. I disputed it and the credit unions removed it from my report.

I called the NY court on 3/19/04 and they said to me that they no longer have any papers on file for my original judgment and whatever NJ has is all that is on file. NY court did not even have anything with my name in their computer system.

The lawyer I have been speaking with (giving me phone advice) said he wants to see a "certificate of affidavit". I ask NJ court to send me everything they have on file. Hopefully this certificate is in there. But over the phone they said they do have anything that says "certificate of affidavit".....

Yesterday (3/20) I received a civil action in the mail, the lawyer (representing this collection agency) is trying to garnishee my pay. The letter (from the court) says I have 10 days to reply or the garnishment process will start. What do I do now? My plan is to contact a lawyer on 3/22 to see if there is anything we can do to fight this. Hopefully someone out there can provide advice. Thank you.

Matt

[Ladynred]

I believe what your lawyer friend is looking for is a proof of service affidavit. When you're served, a proof of service is filed with your case. You need this to find out when, where, and to whom the original summons was served. If you asked for the case file from the NJ court, the proof of service should be in it.

Thank you for your reply. At this point I have to respond to the court disputing the judgment. I would appreciate if someone could provide advice on what I should include in my letter to the court.

Thank you,
Matt

[JETX]

Simply, file a 'general denial' saying that you don't believe their claims to be valid and ask that they prove them in court.