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What happens after a judgement is filed?

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cheyenne1029

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania

My boyfriend is being taken to court for a loan he took out for a computer 5 years ago. He has tried 3 times to make payment arangements. The collection company insists that he pay 1/2 down on the debt and the balance in monthly payments in order to avoid the judgement. He does not have that lump sum so he has been paying 150 per month for the past 3 months and they have been accepting it. They did call and let him know that the payments he is making will not prevent the judgement form being filed.

I'm worried that they will try to come to our house and try to take property to pay this debt off. Most everything here is mine. He moved in here with a suitcase and that's it. All of the furniture and electronics were mine. I have no way to prove that though. I don't have receipts for any of it.

Can they come in and take my belongings to settle his debt? Will they try if he is making monthly payments?
 


tby2000

Junior Member
What kind of court?

What kind of court is he being sued in? I presume it's small claims (i.e. before a magisterial district justice)? If its a small claims court, you have an absolute right of appeal within 30 days of the district justice's judgment to appeal to common pleas court. This is done with a simple form (google "pennsylvania magistrate appeal" for the form) which is filed with the court administrator/prothonotary for the county in which the suit was filed.

The case will then be listed for mediation. HOWEVER, based on the small amount of the loan in question, it's likely that the creditor will never bother to file a complaint in the common pleas court, as would be required. So, if they haven't done so within 20 days after you file your appeal, the case would be closed, with a judgment of non pros. Getting the judgment of non pros is not automatic, and takes a bit of paperwork on your part. Let me know if you're interested in going that route, and I'll give you more details.
 

cheyenne1029

Junior Member
This debt is about 5 years old. It was with a collection company and he DID ignore it (against my advice). They now handed it over to a VERY pushy law office. They filed for a judgement with our local magistrate. The debt is a little over 2500.00. The payments are made to this law office. We do have cancelled checks from the payments.

They keep trying to scare him into paying it in full. I have been telling him that most if what they are saying is a bunch of bull and to just keep making the payments as he is. The lawyer is telling him that he should not let the judgement get filed because then she will have to petition to take some of his property to settle the debt. She calls here just about once a week to try and talk him into paying in full before the hearing. We quit answering the phone when she calls because she pushed his buttens so much and gets him so upset. Nobody WANTS to have a judgement filed against them but I suspect this lawyer is making it seem so much worse than it will really be.

Thanks for all the info given already. I will check out that one website right now.
 

tby2000

Junior Member
Agreed it should be paid in full to avoid a judgment. You can appeal as I mentioned, but if they are really determined, it will just slow them down (if you demand a trial, it could be a year or so before that happens), and not stop them. Let me know how you made out with finding the appeal forms.
 

tby2000

Junior Member
Other thoughts

You can also incentivize Plaintiff to slow things down by threatening to get married. Under PA law, with ownership by the entireties, which PA still has, the state views you and your husband as one indistinguishable entity. Thus, if you are married, and the judgment isn't against both of you, you can own all of the property in the world, and they won't be able to execute on their judgment because your property will be un-attachable. As you probably know, absent a few criminal violations, PA has no wage garnishment law, so there's nothing to worry about from that angle either.
 

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