A Lien without prior notification?

[nxdgirl]

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

I recently received a notice from the court that a lien has been placed against me. I have not been served with any papers nor have I received other contact from the company who have brought the lien against me. I do not know what this matter is about (other than I pulled my credit report online) and see them named as a collector who it appears is a 'debt buyer'.

The notice I received from the court was mailed to a relatives address and was forwarded to me. They have not received any other mail or paperwork regarding this matter.

Is this legal? How can they place a lien on me without giving me a chance to appear in court??? Or at least tell me what it is about? What do I do?

[dfromnyli]

Go to the court and ask for a copy of the file to find out what happened. most specifically the affidavit of service.

[nxdgirl]

Thanks. I will do that. However, it is not an easy task. They filed in a court that is a 7 hour drive from where I live???

[dfromnyli]

oh man thats a real pain in the rear end. where i'm from we have companies that pick up court documents for a fee if the court is too far away from us. maybe you could look into something like that.

[should_I_ask]

Originally Posted by dfromnyli

Go to the court and ask for a copy of the file to find out what happened. most specifically the affidavit of service.

Unless things are very different in California, you should be able to call the court where the summons was filed, request a copy since you are a party to the proceedings. They will most likely request a copy of your dvl to make sure and will more than likely request funds to pay for the copy. I would request a copy of the WHOLE file, pay attention to the affidavit of service.

I've included a link to the page you can reference in terms of service requirements.

[url=http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=3367428804+2+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve]WAIS Document Retrieval[/url]

[justalayman]

but back to the original question:

Is this legal?

generally, yes

How can they place a lien on me without giving me a chance to appear in court???

depending on what the lien was for, it can be as simple as going to the courthouse and filing an intention to lien. They fill out the paperwork, get it signed and viola`, there is a lien on your house.

Or at least tell me what it is about?

not prior to filing, no

generally, if this was concerning a debt, there would first be a judgment against you for the debt. Then the creditor can lien your house (presuming it is legal in the state involved).

You then can contest the legitimacy of the lien. If you fail to do so, it simply sets there on your title.

[dfromnyli]

Originally Posted by should_I_ask

request a copy since you are a party to the proceedings. They will most likely request a copy of your dvl to make sure and will more than likely request funds to pay for the copy

FYI, all court documents - unless protected by special order are public records. I could show up at the courthouse and request every piece of paper out of OP's file if I wanted to, but I have no desire.