Got Judgement But No Debt Owed

[jeffismad]

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

I had a credit card bill that I got behind on. Eventually it went to collections, and then ultimately got served with court papers from the law firm collecting on the debt. I asked for and received a settlement offer, in writing, and then I made payment via certified bank funds and have the FedEx tracking & signature information showing it was received. So imagine my surprise yesterday when I happened to check on the court status via the court's web system (the date was yesterday but I was out of town) and found that the attorney had obtained a default judgement against me.

Nobody from the law firm will return my calls, and when I call I always get routed to voice mail after explaining why I call and then me hearing them state that the status is that the debt was paid.

I'm being told by the court that all I can do is appeal this. I'd like to know if that is my only option, or what other action can I take? Isn't it unlawful for an attorney to stand in court and represent that I owe him money when he knows for a fact that the debt was paid? Is that something called fraud on the court? Is that something that should be reported as an ethics violation/professional guidelines standard with the State Bar?

[CraigFL]

I wouldn't bother talking to these people on the telephone. I would send a registered letter with a return receipt with copies of the signed settlement agreement, payment check and signature receipt for the Fed-Ex demanding that they cease contact with you regarding this and that they mark the judgment paid. I would expect they with either stop or tell you they never received the payment in which case you will need to prove they cashed the check.

P.S. In order to get a default judgment, they would have had to sue you in court and you not show up even though you received a summons...

[jeffismad]

Originally Posted by CraigFL

I wouldn't bother talking to these people on the telephone. I would send a registered letter with a return receipt with copies of the signed settlement agreement, payment check and signature receipt for the Fed-Ex demanding that they cease contact with you regarding this and that they mark the judgment paid. I would expect they with either stop or tell you they never received the payment in which case you will need to prove they cashed the check.

P.S. In order to get a default judgment, they would have had to sue you in court and you not show up even though you received a summons...

You're misunderstanding the situation though -- they did sue me in court, the court date was yesterday but they agreed to the dismissal. In Virginia it is a pre-paid court and you can pay off anything prior to the court date and the case is then supposed to be dismissed. So the problem is that I have a judgement against me, even though no debt was owed. Which looks bad, and frankly knowing these guys it wouldn't surprise me to see them then try to ALSO collect on the judgement!