Failure to file default judgment by plaintiff?

[14gamess]

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

Hi, I was looking on my local court website and saw that a collection agency apparently got a default judgement against me 2 years ago that I was unaware of. According to the court website, there is an entry that says that says...

07/21/2010 8:30 AM DEPT. XX HEARING ON OSC RE: FAILURE TO FILE DEFAULT JUDGMENT PLAINTFF


Does anyone know what this means? I was never notified of ANY court date. Can I show up for this court date or do I have to have some sort of notice to appear? From what I can tell, this case was originally filed around 4/2008. Thank you for your help.

 

[CourtClerk]

Have you never been served a summons and complaint? That hearing is for the plaintiff. The judge would like to know why the case is sitting around.

 

[latigo]

The only sense I can make of it is that the motion is one from the court directing the plaintiff to appear on July 21 and show cause why the case should not be dismissed for the plaintiff ‘s failure to submit a proposed judgment.

The clerk’s entry of 2 years ago may refer to the order of default. You should make a trip to the courthouse and read the file. But common experience would suggest that if such a judgment was in fact issued that far back some effort would have been exerted by the plaintiff to satisfy it.

Also look at the affidavit of the return of service, If that affidavit is falsified it would constitute extrinsic fraud * upon the court, and you may have grounds to set the default aside.

It is noted however, that you don't mention whether or not there was any factual basis for the plaintiff's cause of action. Here again you'll need to read the clerk's file.


[*]Extrinsic Fraud is "’fraud that induces a person not to present a case or deprives a person of the opportunity to be heard.’"

 

[14gamess]

Thank you for your reply. At this point, I'm not sure if there is a factual basis for this claim or not. About 5 years ago I had a debit card stolen and I contacted the bank, filed affidavits, and sorted everything out (or so I thought). I'm not sure if this is related to that situation, or if I was negligent and didn't pay a bill at some point, since I don't know who the original creditor is. Is there any way I can find out that information? Will it be in the court file? Thank you again for your advice.