Attorney took advatage of situation

[Landon910]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law Arkansas

I was sued in district court by my landlord for unpaid rent.
On the court date I showed up early so i was outside the courtroom
when my landlord and her attorney arrived. I apologized to my landlord
for the situation coming to this, and introduced myself to the attorney.
She wanted to know if I was going to take the case to trial and I told her no,
that i knew I owed the money. she said okay.

As time for court got closer, the small courtroom filled up. I sat in the same place as court began and
never moved. No one ever called my name as they did for others that were also waiting outside the courtroom for their turn to go
before the judge. My landlord and her attorney were some of the last people out. As they came past me, the attorney
said she would send me some papers in the mail. The next person out was the court clerk because court
was over.

My issue is, the attorney got a judgement by default entered on the record that day.
After talking to the clerk at a later date she said she didn't understand why they never
called my name when i had been there the entire time.

Should it have been another type of judgement?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law Arkansas

I was sued in district court by my landlord for unpaid rent.
On the court date I showed up early so i was outside the courtroom
when my landlord and her attorney arrived. I apologized to my landlord
for the situation coming to this, and introduced myself to the attorney.
She wanted to know if I was going to take the case to trial and I told her no,
that i knew I owed the money. she said okay.

As time for court got closer, the small courtroom filled up. I sat in the same place as court began and
never moved. No one ever called my name as they did for others that were also waiting outside the courtroom for their turn to go
before the judge. My landlord and her attorney were some of the last people out. As they came past me, the attorney
said she would send me some papers in the mail. The next person out was the court clerk because court
was over.

My issue is, the attorney got a judgement by default entered on the record that day.
After talking to the clerk at a later date she said she didn't understand why they never
called my name when i had been there the entire time.

Should it have been another type of judgement?

A default judgment can be one that is entered when you do not defend against the claim filed against you. Many people hear "default judgment" and think it is only when a defendant fails to appear in court.

Here is a link on Court Rule 55, Default: https://courts.arkansas.gov/rules-and-administrative-orders/court-rules/rule-55-default

 

[adjusterjack]

My issue is, the attorney got a judgement by default entered on the record that day.
After talking to the clerk at a later date she said she didn't understand why they never
called my name when i had been there the entire time.

Read Rule 60. You might have grounds to get the judgment set aside:

https://courts.arkansas.gov/rules-and-administrative-orders/rules-of-civil-procedure

 

[quincy]

Read Rule 60. You might have grounds to get the judgment set aside:

https://courts.arkansas.gov/rules-and-administrative-orders/rules-of-civil-procedure

Actually, Landon910 will want to refer to Rule 55 (the link to which I provided) for setting aside a default judgment - not Rule 60.

 

[Dandy Don]

The attorney did not take advantage of you. It was not YOUR decision as to whether the case went to trial: the fact that the rent was unpaid was why you all were in court in the first place. Sorry, but even if you had appeared in court, the outcome and the judgement would have been the same. You already know that you owe the rent so I hope you are taking steps to get it paid.

 

[quincy]

The attorney did not take advantage of you. It was not YOUR decision as to whether the case went to trial: the fact that the rent was unpaid was why you all were in court in the first place. Sorry, but even if you had appeared in court, the outcome and the judgement would have been the same. You already know that you owe the rent so I hope you are taking steps to get it paid.

The question was a legitimate one, though. And I think the attorney could have offered a simple explanation to Landon910 so s/he knew what was going on.

Based strictly on what has been posted, it appears that Landon910 does not have a meritorious defense to the claim so it is unlikely that the default judgment would be set aside.

It is important for Landon910 now to make sure to read carefully the papers sent by the attorney and to make sure that any exempt funds and property are not garnished/attached in order to satisfy the judgment. Landon910 might be smart to have some legal assistance in Arkansas so all is understood.

 

[latigo]

Read Rule 60. You might have grounds to get the judgment set aside:

https://courts.arkansas.gov/rules-and-administrative-orders/rules-of-civil-procedure

Correction! Rule 60 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure has no application to default judgments. Read it! It is not a replica of Rule 60 (b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

The conditions and grounds upon which a judgment debtor might obtain relief from a default judgment are set forth in Arkansas Rule 55(c). And if you will trouble to read that rule you'll find that given the admissions he has made here, were he to file such a motion asserting applicable grounds he would be committing perjury.

Again curiosity prompts me to as if you have ever practiced law?

 

[quincy]

Correction! Rule 60 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure has no application to default judgments. Read it! It is not a replica of Rule 60 (b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

The conditions and grounds upon which a judgment debtor might obtain relief from a default judgment are set forth in Arkansas Rule 55(c). And if you will trouble to read that rule you'll find that given the admissions he has made here, were he to file such a motion asserting applicable grounds he would be committing perjury.

Again curiosity prompts me to as if you have ever practiced law?

I agree that Rule 55 should have been read by the previous poster prior to directing Landon910 to a different, inapplicable Rule.

That said, the majority of members of this forum are not attorneys and yet they tend on the whole to do a darn good job of providing posters with accurate legal information and direction. I believe this forum regularly provides better information and advice, with the least amount of legal error, than others like it on the internet.

I do think there are a few members who might want to investigate the law a bit more before adding to a thread, to make sure they are not leading a poster astray with bad advice (especially advice that could result in harm to a poster). And there are two or three members of this forum who really have no business advising anyone else at all about the law (but these posters are apt to have a relatively short life on FreeAdvice - the life terminated when corrections of what they write become the rule rather than the exception).

But such is the nature of a forum that I accept with more grace at times than I do at other times.