20 year old Florida judgment

[Jeho1987]

What is the name of your state? New York
I am a resident of New York State, and have lived in New York for the past 30 years. A couple of months ago, I received a letter from my bank stating that my account was frozen due to a garnishment. I found out that a judgment was entered against me in Florida in 1998. This was from a car loan dating back to 1996 when I voluntarily returned the car when I fell on hard times and could no longer afford to keep it. Shortly after I moved to New York. I contacted the FL court and also went online to view court documents. The judgment was entered because I did not show up for the court hearing which i did not know about. The lawyer who also turns out to be the debt collector/Plaintiff who purchased the debt, is now suing me for over 5x the original amount of the claim. I was able to file an exemption to have my account released (they were able to freeze my account because the bank also has branches in FL). I filed a motion pro se to have the judgment vacated but that was denied because the lawyer produced a notice of repossession and right to redeem from the bank and an affidavit of service which state that i was served in NY in 1998. The judgment expired 2 months ago on the 20 year mark, but I see online that the lawyer has filed to extend the judgment and that a 20 days summons has been issued. My question is can the judgment be extended and can I be sued in New York? What are my options? Thanks.

 

[Zigner]

Yes, the judgment can be extended. There's no reason to sue you in New York because you've already been sued (and lost) in Florida. The lawyer is not now suing you for 5x the original amount, the lawyer is simply adding his fees and interest, as allowed by your contract.

 

[mjpayne]

He's probably tacking on interest, expenses of the bank, his own fees, etc... Maybe you can ask him for a breakdown of how he got to that amount. 20 years is a LOOOONG time for interest to accumulate even if it's a small original balance! I suppose they repossessed the car, but couldn't sell it for anywhere near the amount you bought it for, which is to be expected, especially with new cars that lose lots of value just from being bought. Your options are:

1. Pay it.
2. Negotiate directly with the attorney or via a lawyer (costs $) to try and settle for less $.
3. Declare bankruptcy.

 

[Jeho1987]

He's probably tacking on interest, expenses of the bank, his own fees, etc... Maybe you can ask him for a breakdown of how he got to that amount. 20 years is a LOOOONG time for interest to accumulate even if it's a small original balance! I suppose they repossessed the car, but couldn't sell it for anywhere near the amount you bought it for, which is to be expected, especially with new cars that lose lots of value just from being bought. Your options are:

1. Pay it.
2. Negotiate directly with the attorney or via a lawyer (costs $) to try and settle for less $.
3. Declare bankruptcy.

The original complaint was for less than $6K. When i called the lawyer, he stated that he will not accept anything less than $25K. They waited 20 years to pursue this. From what I understand they will need to domesticate the judgment in New York. Looking at options right now but will consider bankruptcy as a last resort. This would be the only thing listed, as I do not have anything else that I would declare. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[mjpayne]

The original complaint was for less than $6K. When i called the lawyer, he stated that he will not accept anything less than $25K. They waited 20 years to pursue this. From what I understand they will need to domesticate the judgment in New York. Looking at options right now but will consider bankruptcy as a last resort. This would be the only thing listed, as I do not have anything else that I would declare. Thanks for the feedback.

Yep, you can certainly rack up those kinds of charges in 20 years. Without going into details, I've seen this happen with other people, though not for car loans. Yes, it's likely intentional. If you don't have a lot of assets (if you rent a home instead of own, for instance), I would certainly look into bankruptcy.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

$25K on a 20 year old debt of $6k isn't even on the high side.

 

[Litigator22]

The original complaint was for less than $6K. When i called the lawyer, he stated that he will not accept anything less than $25K. They waited 20 years to pursue this. From what I understand they will need to domesticate the judgment in New York. Looking at options right now but will consider bankruptcy as a last resort. This would be the only thing listed, as I do not have anything else that I would declare. Thanks for the feedback.

Even though it is of no moment or concern now (since the freeze has been removed) it seems worthy of mentioning that your New York bank was in error in padlocking your account because of the service of a writ of garnishment upon a Florida subsidiary branch. The reason it was in error is because of a rule of law applied by the New York courts in such instances known as the "separate entity rule".

That rule of law provides that each branch of a parent bank is treated as a separate and independent entity and (quoting from the analogous New York case of Cronan v. Schilling, 100 N.Y.S.2d 474 (Sup. Ct. N.Y.Co. 1950) is "in no way concerned with accounts of depositors maintained in other branches or at a home office".

However, if you are interested in exploring the defensive measures you might raise in contesting any attempt by the judgment creditor to have the Florida judgment docketed in New York pursuant to the state's Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (NYCPLR Sec. 5401 et seq.) let me know.

 

[Jeho1987]

Even though it is of no moment or concern now (since the freeze has been removed) it seems worthy of mentioning that your New York bank was in error in padlocking your account because of the service of a writ of garnishment upon a Florida subsidiary branch. The reason it was in error is because of a rule of law applied by the New York courts in such instances known as the "separate entity rule".

That rule of law provides that each branch of a parent bank is treated as a separate and independent entity and (quoting from the analogous New York case of Cronan v. Schilling, 100 N.Y.S.2d 474 (Sup. Ct. N.Y.Co. 1950) is "in no way concerned with accounts of depositors maintained in other branches or at a home office".

However, if you are interested in exploring the defensive measures you might raise in contesting any attempt by the judgment creditor to have the Florida judgment docketed in New York pursuant to the state's Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (NYCPLR Sec. 5401 et seq.) let me know.

Yes, I am very interested. They issued a 20 day summons over a month ago but I have not received or heard from anyone.

 

[mjpayne]

Yes, I am very interested. They issued a 20 day summons over a month ago but I have not received or heard from anyone.

It's just a civil judgement. It's not like they're going to send a SWAT team from that state to where you live to hunt you down over it. My money is on wage garnishment.