Received sheriff's wage garnishing letter for judgment on money already paid

[CharileBrown98]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

In April 2001 I paid a national automotive repair shop with a check - the amount was a little under a $1,000. Due to an accounting error on my part, that check was returned for insufficient funds. I paid the retailer the owed money plus fees via a bank money order (which I still have the stub for) sent to their national headquarters.

Today I received a "Sheriff's Income Execution Instructions to Judgment Debtor" letter from my county sheriff. It basically says I need to pay 10% of my gross income each week to satisfy a Judgment from November 2001 awarded to this retailer. The initial judgment amount apparently was a little more than $1100. At this point, with interest, fees, and sheriff poundage, the amount is $2200.

This is the first I have heard of this judgment! I do not recall getting any notice that someone was trying to file a judgment against me back in 2001. I'll admit I am not always the most organized person; but I would never ignore something like that. And why would I... I had proof of payment. And I have never received any letters or calls from anyone trying to collect on it in the past 7 1/2 years. And then today out of the blue I get this letter. It's all very strange, and annoying.

I have several questions related to this problem:

1) What's my best course of action?

2) If I was never notified about the pending judgment to allow me to defend myself, can I get this judgment vacated?

3) How do I go about proving that I do not owe them this money?

4) Should I contact a lawyer, or try to work through the sheriff's office?

5) When I look for a lawyer, what area of law or specialty should I look for?

Thank you. Please let me know if you need any additional information.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[cosine]

Originally Posted by CharileBrown98

1) What's my best course of action?

Find an Attorney

Originally Posted by CharileBrown98

2) If I was never notified about the pending judgment to allow me to defend myself, can I get this judgment vacated?

I assume you mean "I was never served with a summons" regarding a lawsuit. Yes, it can be vacated if you have cause for it to be vacated. But this isn't nearly as trivial as defending yourself in small claims court or anything like that. Find an Attorney. Also ask that lawyer about getting a temporary stay on the garnishment until the courts can sort this out.

Originally Posted by CharileBrown98

3) How do I go about proving that I do not owe them this money?

You still have the stub for the bank money order. That and a sworn statement that you were never served a summons on the lawsuit would be the things to get you started. At some point the certification of service, or whatever is equivalent to that in New York, would be examined to see what kind of issue conflict is present. New York has a reputation of making it easy for plaintiffs to bypass proper service. It's unknown if that happened in your case. That's something a court would have to sort out.

Originally Posted by CharileBrown98

4) Should I contact a lawyer, or try to work through the sheriff's office?

Contact a lawyer. If the sheriff's office is in the mood to give any advice at all, they would say to contact a lawyer. The sheriff cannot reverse a court order. The only kind of "work it out" the sheriff would be allowed to do is accept your payment for the full amount.

Originally Posted by CharileBrown98

5) When I look for a lawyer, what area of law or specialty should I look for?

Collection, Litigation. Some General Practice lawyers can also handle this.

[CharileBrown98]

Thank you cosine for your detailed answers. And yes, I did mean "I was never served with a summons" regarding a lawsuit.

I figured this was going to be something I'd need to have resolved in court. But given it was the night before a three day holiday weekend, I needed to at least get some basic advice immediately. Based on your comments I feel less stressed out over this, so thanks.

Not to get too far ahead of myself, but when I (hopefully) get this successfully resolved through an attorney and the courts, do I have a case to try and recoup my attorney fees from this company? I'm not one who thinks that because a company falsely filed a judgment against me that I am instantly entitled to millions of dollars. But it does seem unfair that I have to pay several hundred (?) dollars to defend myself against some company's error. I know life's not always fair, but I would hope our legal system is. (Obviously my attorney will know more details of the case and how things went in court to better answer this question, but I just want to get a general idea at this point.)

[cosine]

Originally Posted by CharileBrown98

do I have a case to try and recoup my attorney fees from this company?

You would have to show something they did wrong, and either willful intent to do it wrong or clear and specific damages. And that's just speculation. What you need to find out is what went wrong with the service. If it was merely addressed or delivered to someone else, that's just a mistake and not likely to get you much. See the certificate of service as a starting point. One possible course this could take is that after the judgment is vacated, the plaintiff may simply never refile. You'd have to specifically sue at that point to get anything (the order to vacate won't do it). And the chances are not good. And if they do refile, you may not have anything to go on to prove any wrongdoing on their part. No one said it's a perfectly fair system. In any event you need to discuss with your lawyer what your chances to recover are in the face of the evidence and details he sees. Pursuing them for that could cost even more, and that's your cost if you don't win.

[JETX]

Originally Posted by CharileBrown98

1) What's my best course of action?

Get the judgment set aside and prove payment was made.

2) If I was never notified about the pending judgment to allow me to defend myself, can I get this judgment vacated?

Can you?? No one can answer without actually doing it for you. However, if you do it correctly and if you were in fact NOT served in accordance with your state laws.... then it is LIKELY that you could get the judgment set aside (vacated).
First thing you need to do is to contact the court and get a copy of the 'notice of service'. It will show how you were served. Once you have that, review your state laws and see if the service met the requirements.

3) How do I go about proving that I do not owe them this money?

Copy of canceled check, receipt, etc.

4) Should I contact a lawyer, or try to work through the sheriff's office?

Neither. See process in answer #2.

5) When I look for a lawyer, what area of law or specialty should I look for?

See above.

[You Are Guilty]

Originally Posted by CharileBrown98

Thank you cosine for your detailed answers. And yes, I did mean "I was never served with a summons" regarding a lawsuit.

I figured this was going to be something I'd need to have resolved in court. But given it was the night before a three day holiday weekend, I needed to at least get some basic advice immediately. Based on your comments I feel less stressed out over this, so thanks.

Not to get too far ahead of myself, but when I (hopefully) get this successfully resolved through an attorney and the courts, do I have a case to try and recoup my attorney fees from this company? I'm not one who thinks that because a company falsely filed a judgment against me that I am instantly entitled to millions of dollars. But it does seem unfair that I have to pay several hundred (?) dollars to defend myself against some company's error. I know life's not always fair, but I would hope our legal system is. (Obviously my attorney will know more details of the case and how things went in court to better answer this question, but I just want to get a general idea at this point.)

Go to this link, read it all, and then try out the form generator listed at the bottom of the link:
http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/civil/vacatingjudg.shtml

[CharileBrown98]

Thank you all. Your input is very helpful and valuable. Any additional input is certainly welcome and appreciated.

Thanks You Are Guilty for the link. There's a lot of good information there. It'll be very helpful. Thanks.

I'm going to take Monday morning off work. I'll go to my bank with my money order stub and ask them for a copy of the cashed money order. And then I'll go to the county court clerk's office and get a copy of the 'notice of service' as JETX suggests, as well as the actual judgment. All that should give me more information. I can then proceed to vacate the default judgment.

Thanks cosine for the info on recouping fees. Your comments make sense. Not the greatest news, but like I said, I realize life isn't fair. This is all just a huge pain.

One more question, if the default judgment is vacated, does that automatically also create a stay on the wage garnishment? (Hopefully I'm using the correct terms here.) Or is that a separate action?

[You Are Guilty]

Originally Posted by CharileBrown98

Thank you all. Your input is very helpful and valuable. Any additional input is certainly welcome and appreciated.

Thanks You Are Guilty for the link. There's a lot of good information there. It'll be very helpful. Thanks.

I'm going to take Monday morning off work. I'll go to my bank with my money order stub and ask them for a copy of the cashed money order. And then I'll go to the county court clerk's office and get a copy of the 'notice of service' as JETX suggests, as well as the actual judgment. All that should give me more information. I can then proceed to vacate the default judgment.

Thanks cosine for the info on recouping fees. Your comments make sense. Not the greatest news, but like I said, I realize life isn't fair. This is all just a huge pain.

One more question, if the default judgment is vacated, does that automatically also create a stay on the wage garnishment? (Hopefully I'm using the correct terms here.) Or is that a separate action?

Your plan is sound, although the document you're looking for is called an "Affidavit of Service" in New York.

As for stopping the garnishment, I believe you have to make a specific request for it, i.e. it's not automatic. However, you can include it as the second thing listed as requested relief in your order to show cause to vacate the default. (1) vacate default, (2) stop garnishments.

Good luck.