What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Louisiana
John Doe opens a revolving account (VISA or MasterCard, I think) in ’97, defaults in mid ‘98, is sued in August 2000, loses by default in October 2000, goes through judgment debtor exams roughly in 2001, 2003, and gets what he says is “sporadic” dunning contact from creditor(s)/collection(s) through the first few years, and then that peters out. Then in early 2009, contact starts up again from the creditor, and he’s ruled into court again in May 2009 for another judgment debtor exam…(all exams were done by the same lawyer). He complies with the exam, and a few weeks afterward he gets a call from the creditor/collector again, which he ignores.
Then, a few days ago, he gets a certified letter from the Secretary of State, Commerce Division, which turns out to be service from the local court routed through the Secretary of State, and he is served with a copy of the same petition from 2000..the EXACT same petition same parties, same docket number, stamped as received in 2000, as well as a couple of attachments (copies of his original credit application…one of those “pre-approved” deals, a copy of the pamphlet outlining the terms of credit, and a receipt of sorts…some sort of documentation showing the debt and last payment info). There was no copy nor even mention of the judgment, and the citation says, in pertinent part “YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to comply with the demand contained in the Petition… …or make an appearance either by filing an answer or pleading… … within 15 days”
Now, when he told me this, I was thinking that it was no different than what I have heard many times in the past, that being that there was more to the story than he was explaining to me…so, I checked the documentation out and, in this case, I actually saw it with my own eyes.
Why would the creditor be serving this ten year old petition on him that a default judgment has already been rendered on, and ruled on in the creditor’s favor at that? I thought that maybe it was just some sort of mistake, and that something else was supposed to be served on him, yet the original petition was accidentally served instead. Also, it occurred to me that a judgment is good in Louisiana for ten years, and it can be renewed after that, so I wondered if maybe that had something to do with this, as the Judgment will “expire” (or whatever term is used for that) in October of this year unless they renew it. Any ideas what’s behind this?
John Doe opens a revolving account (VISA or MasterCard, I think) in ’97, defaults in mid ‘98, is sued in August 2000, loses by default in October 2000, goes through judgment debtor exams roughly in 2001, 2003, and gets what he says is “sporadic” dunning contact from creditor(s)/collection(s) through the first few years, and then that peters out. Then in early 2009, contact starts up again from the creditor, and he’s ruled into court again in May 2009 for another judgment debtor exam…(all exams were done by the same lawyer). He complies with the exam, and a few weeks afterward he gets a call from the creditor/collector again, which he ignores.
Then, a few days ago, he gets a certified letter from the Secretary of State, Commerce Division, which turns out to be service from the local court routed through the Secretary of State, and he is served with a copy of the same petition from 2000..the EXACT same petition same parties, same docket number, stamped as received in 2000, as well as a couple of attachments (copies of his original credit application…one of those “pre-approved” deals, a copy of the pamphlet outlining the terms of credit, and a receipt of sorts…some sort of documentation showing the debt and last payment info). There was no copy nor even mention of the judgment, and the citation says, in pertinent part “YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to comply with the demand contained in the Petition… …or make an appearance either by filing an answer or pleading… … within 15 days”
Now, when he told me this, I was thinking that it was no different than what I have heard many times in the past, that being that there was more to the story than he was explaining to me…so, I checked the documentation out and, in this case, I actually saw it with my own eyes.
Why would the creditor be serving this ten year old petition on him that a default judgment has already been rendered on, and ruled on in the creditor’s favor at that? I thought that maybe it was just some sort of mistake, and that something else was supposed to be served on him, yet the original petition was accidentally served instead. Also, it occurred to me that a judgment is good in Louisiana for ten years, and it can be renewed after that, so I wondered if maybe that had something to do with this, as the Judgment will “expire” (or whatever term is used for that) in October of this year unless they renew it. Any ideas what’s behind this?