What exactly is a Withdrawal Notice?

[openwire]

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

I was defendent in car repo case. Judgement by default entered in Jan 2014. Hearing for damages continued 6 or 7 times by plaintiff's attorney. Why, I don't know. I never attended any of these proceedings except an informal pre-trial sit down in Sept 2013.

So each month since Feb 2014, I would get a notice from the court saying the case was continued until the next month. Until today. Instead of the usual continuance I received a Withdrawal notice. What is it and why would they withdraw after winning a judgement?

Section 1, This Withdrawal is being filed because the dispute has been resolved by :
(Box checked) "Unilateral action of party or parties"

Section 2, Withdrawal
(Box checked) "The plaintiff's action is WITHDRAWN AS TO ALL DEFENDANTS without costs to any party"

That's it. No asterisks, no explanation, nada. At the bottom it's signed by the plaintiff's attorney.

I called the Clerk of the Court for clarification but she wasn't much help. I didn't press it because I realize the Clerk is not there to give legal advice.

So what does it mean? Is the lawyer himself the one withdrawing, and if so why doesn't it say that? Is the debt service company (sole plaintiff) giving up after winning a default judgement because they determined I'm judgement-proof for all practical purposes? But still...why walk away?

Appreciate any insight...Thanks

 

[single317dad]

Here's a bit of speculation on my part:

The default judgment probably stands. The further hearings were probably of the nature of "proceedings supplemental", in which the plaintiff tries to determine your assets and how they may be compensated. My guess is that action was withdrawn, which isn't a big deal because they can start another one later. What it says is "we're not going to continue wasting docket space and billable hours on this proceedings supplemental until we can find some assets worth seizing".

What's interesting is that if this is the case, they didn't play their biggest card, which is hauling you in for contempt for failure to appear. That would assume they're getting good service on you, and that you actually do fail to appear to an actual hearing.

Again, this is all speculation, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[openwire]

Very early on I called the Clerk, right after the default judgement I think, and I specifically asked about my not appearing for damages hearings. She said I did not have to go. Every continuance letter (sent 1st Class mail, not service) was worded the same as the first. No mention of mandatory appearance.

Your explanation makes sense though. It didn't figure they'd toss out a win when holding onto it forever was zero cost to them. Then again, this particular debt buyer has been in hot water with the FTC recently, fined a couple million dollars actually.

One thing I found strange: when I got the July continuance, the very same day I got a letter from the plaintiff's lawyer's office asking rather nicely would I send some money. Not a demand, mind you...almost like the sort of reminder you might get from a utility company. Except for one thing. There was no amount listed on the request. No total, no partial payment, no balance. I laughed when I saw it. Was it some kind of trick? Have you ever received a bill asking for an unknown amount to pay down an unknown balance?

 

[latigo]

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

I was defendent in car repo case. Judgement by default entered in Jan 2014. Hearing for damages continued 6 or 7 times by plaintiff's attorney. Why, I don't know. I never attended any of these proceedings except an informal pre-trial sit down in Sept 2013.

So each month since Feb 2014, I would get a notice from the court saying the case was continued until the next month. Until today. Instead of the usual continuance I received a Withdrawal notice. What is it and why would they withdraw after winning a judgement?

Section 1, This Withdrawal is being filed because the dispute has been resolved by :
(Box checked) "Unilateral action of party or parties"

Section 2, Withdrawal
(Box checked) "The plaintiff's action is WITHDRAWN AS TO ALL DEFENDANTS without costs to any party"

That's it. No asterisks, no explanation, nada. At the bottom it's signed by the plaintiff's attorney.

I called the Clerk of the Court for clarification but she wasn't much help. I didn't press it because I realize the Clerk is not there to give legal advice.

So what does it mean? Is the lawyer himself the one withdrawing, and if so why doesn't it say that? Is the debt service company (sole plaintiff) giving up after winning a default judgement because they determined I'm judgement-proof for all practical purposes? But still...why walk away?

Appreciate any insight...Thanks

I think what happened is this.

After the repossession the creditor is bound to dispose of the collateral in a commercially reasonable manner. Also it must give notice to the debtor of the intended disposition

They somehow disposed of the vehicle and then applied for a deficiency judgment. You didn't show so the court or clerk entered your default and the case was set for hearing for the judgment creditor to produce proof that the vehicle was soled in a commercially reasonable manner and establish a discrepancy in what they got for the vehicle and what was owed against it.

Several postponements seems to indicate that the judgment creditor was not able to produce evidence that the vehicle was in fact disposed in a reasonable commercial and/or that you were given notice as required by the UCC.

The notation on the notice "Unilateral action of party or parties" indicates that the judgment creditor has voluntarily withdrawn its application for a deficiency judgment.

And the Box checked "The plaintiff's action is WITHDRAWN AS TO ALL DEFENDANTS without costs to any party", means that the case has been dismissed with prejudice and you owe nothing.

In other words, the repo stands, but that is all the lien holder gets. (Hopefully, it took in the shorts.)

 

[openwire]

I wondered about that. I turned the car keys over to Wells Fargo in March 2007; they sold the car in May for $9000 (Bluebook wholesale value at the time was $18,500 +/-), then sent me a bill 5 weeks later for something like $14 grand. They didn't try very hard to get it, and sold the note before the end of '07.

When I initially sought legal advice back then no-one seemed to think the bank dumping the car was that unusual. 6 1/2 years later, the pre-trial judge made a sour face when I brought it up, and glanced disapprovingly at the plaintiff's counsel, but that was it.

The way I saw it...the vehicle was $30k new in Sept 2006. Between trade-in, cash down, and payments made I had approx $10k into the car. Had they ultimately liquidated the thing for something closer to Bluebook I would've worked with them on the shortfall. Wells Fargo was never inclined to talk about that. It seemed, on the contrary, like they couldn't get rid of the paper fast enough.

Interesting...

 

[single317dad]

As far as the below-market selling price, that's not uncommon in these cases. The vehicles get shipped off to auctions (different ones depending on the estimated value) and sold mostly to dealers. Many factors come into play to determine how high the bids will go.

Anecdotally, Wells Fargo in particular has made a name for themselves among a few people I know for repossessing vehicles very quickly (as little as a few days after a missed payment), selling them as quickly as the law allows, and for much less than the market value. All these sales I'm familiar with happened 2008-2011. It was almost like they were trying to generate cash while showing huge losses on paper as quickly as possible. Take that for what it's worth and put it in your conspiracy files.

 

[Heir7]

It would be worth going down to the court to see your case file and see if there is a judgment or not.

If it was dismissed with prejudice, then you're done with it. It means they cannot file a lawsuit against you for that debt again, and they cannot legally force you to pay them anything. Which would explain why they sent you a "nice" letter gently asking for any payment at all.

So then in that case, if you want to stop hearing from them you can just send them a "cease and desist communications" letter to them, and they will probably stop contacting you anymore.

 

[openwire]

I did make it to the courthouse this afternoon and spoke with someone in the Civil Clerk's office. It's set up like bank teller windows; I'm assuming the people are qualified to interpret their own forms.

She tells me the case has been dismissed, but the plaintiff legally has 4 months to re-open it. That was all she had. Told me to check the website every once in a while, enter my docket # and see what if anything is going on.

The Withdrawal is dated 8/5, so I guess I'll be confirming with the Clerk again on 12/6.

A big thanks to all who replied here. I spent a great deal of time last night reading posts on other threads...which were generally way more interesting than mine.