A
aezelig
Guest
What is the name of your state? NJ
I filed a lawsuit against a real estate agent/owner who I claim misrepresented the property I purchased. The summons and complaint were mailed regular mail and certified mail by the court to the real estate office that she owns. The defendant failed to respond to the summons and complaint. I was awarded a default judgment.
The defendant has now filed a motion to vacate default judgment claiming that she never received the summons and complaint and that it was either incorrectly mailed or her employees did not give it to her, and does not conform to the laws of the state. According to the court there is no certified mail receipt with the defendants signature on it.
There are several letters I sent to the defendant asking to discuss this matter outside of the courts, that she did in fact sign for on the certified mail receipt.
I have not hired an attorney up until this point due to the fact that the judgment amount is too low and no one would take the case at a price that made it worthwhile.
5 quesitons:
Is it common legal practice to wait and just file this type of motion after a default judgment is ordered. In my mind this avoids paying for an attorney twice (once for original answer, and then for an appeal). In this case the the appeal deadline has already past (45 days from judgment date in NJ).
Is it common for a defendant to use the failure to deliver summons properly, an excusable cause, claiming never to have received a summons?
Is it likely that the court would deny the motion based on the fact that the defendant makes no claims in the motion to prove that she did not receive the summons other than the "dog ate my homework" claim?
How do I file an objection to the motion? Do I just send a written response back to the court and parties that filed the motion. It is my belief that she purposely avoided filing an answer, how do i say that without calling her a liar, and be able to convince the judge she is lying.
I filed a lawsuit against a real estate agent/owner who I claim misrepresented the property I purchased. The summons and complaint were mailed regular mail and certified mail by the court to the real estate office that she owns. The defendant failed to respond to the summons and complaint. I was awarded a default judgment.
The defendant has now filed a motion to vacate default judgment claiming that she never received the summons and complaint and that it was either incorrectly mailed or her employees did not give it to her, and does not conform to the laws of the state. According to the court there is no certified mail receipt with the defendants signature on it.
There are several letters I sent to the defendant asking to discuss this matter outside of the courts, that she did in fact sign for on the certified mail receipt.
I have not hired an attorney up until this point due to the fact that the judgment amount is too low and no one would take the case at a price that made it worthwhile.
5 quesitons:
Is it common legal practice to wait and just file this type of motion after a default judgment is ordered. In my mind this avoids paying for an attorney twice (once for original answer, and then for an appeal). In this case the the appeal deadline has already past (45 days from judgment date in NJ).
Is it common for a defendant to use the failure to deliver summons properly, an excusable cause, claiming never to have received a summons?
Is it likely that the court would deny the motion based on the fact that the defendant makes no claims in the motion to prove that she did not receive the summons other than the "dog ate my homework" claim?
How do I file an objection to the motion? Do I just send a written response back to the court and parties that filed the motion. It is my belief that she purposely avoided filing an answer, how do i say that without calling her a liar, and be able to convince the judge she is lying.