Help Getting Judgement Vacated?!?!

[justalayman]

Well I've spoken to an attorney that believes that I can file a motion to get this vacated. .

You don't get a judgment vacated without a reason and that reason would be what in your case?

and again, if all you do is get this judgment vacated, what will you do if/when they file suit and seek a new judgment?

 

[jhern87]

You don't get a judgment vacated without a reason and that reason would be what in your case?

and again, if all you do is get this judgment vacated, what will you do if/when they file suit and seek a new judgment?

I will settle before then..

I just spoke with an attorney, I have a meeting with him on Tuesday. I explained my situation and he said that he would probably hire an attorney to handle negotiating something like this. If anyone is curious, he said that this could possibly be handled over the phone and only cost me an hour of his time or we could have to go to a hearing where it would likely be multiple hours.

He touched briefly on our strategy but I'll post what happens once we're a little further into it. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[dcatz]

So you’re dealing with a JDB? Ordinarily, I would think that improves your chances of settlement, since they paid cents on the dollar for the privilege of collecting from you but. . . .

You started with two strikes (a judgment) against you and I strongly suspect that you’re not prepared to contest this. (Incidentally, that’s a shame since the scuttlebutt is that Midland’s suits are notoriously vulnerable and they rely more on numbers than quality.) In a “who blinks first?” contest, I think you lose.

Your attorney is going to hire somebody to handle negotiations? No disrespect to counsel. I encouraged local input, but I have been in such negotiations for many years, albeit at a much higher level than I suspect applies to you, and never had that happen. Motions to Vacate can be treated very liberally, and I also suspect that you could win that round. Have you discussed a game plan with counsel, in the event you’re forced to try? Did you engage someone experienced in this area? (Those are rhetorical questions.) My final salvo would be to suggest that you get your retainer agreement, which could be for a “phone hour to multiple hours” particularized in writing before going much further.

 

[jhern87]

So you’re dealing with a JDB? Ordinarily, I would think that improves your chances of settlement, since they paid cents on the dollar for the privilege of collecting from you but. . . .

You started with two strikes (a judgment) against you and I strongly suspect that you’re not prepared to contest this. (Incidentally, that’s a shame since the scuttlebutt is that Midland’s suits are notoriously vulnerable and they rely more on numbers than quality.) In a “who blinks first?” contest, I think you lose.

Your attorney is going to hire somebody to handle negotiations? No disrespect to counsel. I encouraged local input, but I have been in such negotiations for many years, albeit at a much higher level than I suspect applies to you, and never had that happen. Motions to Vacate can be treated very liberally, and I also suspect that you could win that round. Have you discussed a game plan with counsel, in the event you’re forced to try? Did you engage someone experienced in this area? (Those are rhetorical questions.) My final salvo would be to suggest that you get your retainer agreement, which could be for a “phone hour to multiple hours” particularized in writing before going much further.

No, my attorney said that he would hire an attorney to negotiate if he were in my shoes. We do have a plan if we are to try. I'll go into more detail another time, I'd hate to give away our plan if someone on the other team were reading.

 

[TigerD]

No, my attorney said that he would hire an attorney to negotiate if he were in my shoes. We do have a plan if we are to try. I'll go into more detail another time, I'd hate to give away our plan if someone on the other team were reading.

Your best advantage is that no one on the collection side sees your little debt as nothing worth doing more than going through the motions for. No one on the other side is reading FA for litigation tips.

You've gotten some great advice.

DC

 

[jhern87]

Hey everyone, I just wanted to post what happened with my judgement in-case anyone that has a similar is looking for advice..

So I went and met with an attorney. He reviewed everything and just ended up calling the attorney with the judgement against me right then and there while I was in his office. It didn't look good on my end, they had a signed affidavit of service (that I did not even recall signing. My attorney didn't appear confident that they would be willing to do anything. None the less, he offered them the amount of the original debt that I owed (about 2/3 of the judgement amount) if they would be willing to vacate the judgement and they immediately agreed.

I received a copy of the signed dismissal of the judgement as well as the signed order to vacate the judgement shortly after. My next step is just making sure that the credit reporting agencies are in-fact reporting it as "vacated".

Personally I wish that I would have approached them and offered them the amount myself (without paying an attorney $1,000 that I didn't have) but I'm happy with the results. I appreciate everyone's help.