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Fighting A Judgment

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eileenwilson

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

Long story, bear with me...

On 11/20 I received a copy of a Request to Enter Default sent by an attorney to the OC Court. This was the first I heard of the case. I wasnt sure what a default was, so I asked an attorney friend, they told me the severity of it and I called the court. The clerk said that they had a proof of service on file and that they served a woman w/ a generic descripton in Sept. Well, on that date they "served" me, I was out of the country, and so was my roommate and the only person that could have been in the household was my roommate's mom. She did not match the description and is not named Barbara. So, they lied. I also called teh attorney's office, asking A) who is the original creditor, and B) stating that they didnt serve me. The girl said "oh, well you verified your address so..." On 11/24 I sent a letter to the attorney stating the facts taht I wasnt served, but said if they remove the judgment, I would pay on a payment plan, but they would have to drop the judgment. They sent me a stipulation back saying ok to the pmt plan but they aren't removing the Judgment. So today, I filed a motion to set aside the default and default judgment (which went through 11/24)

Here are my questions:

When I file my proof of service, is the FedEx ticket showing the tracking number sufficient or should I wait till it's delivered and then file the POS showing the internet delivery verification?

The fact that I contacted the attorney to begin with, is that ok? I'm not disputing the debt, I will dispute the amount however, and they refuse to recognize they didn't serve me.

Any other advice would be great, thank you!
 


eileenwilson

Junior Member
one more thing

If my motion to set aside this default is granted, can I move to settle with the attorney?

They are claiming I owe 3800, and i know my credit limit on that card was only 2000.

Will they settle for that do you think?

I have so many ppl saying since they didn't serve me correctly I should see if I can get off w/ out paying it at all, but I do owe the debt, I'm not disputing it, I'm just disputing thier service. If I was served properly I would have had this handled back in September.

Any advice would be great.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
This sounds REALLY familiar

Anywho...even if you get THIS judgment voided, you WILL end up having another judgment. As for "settling", it can't hurt to ask. But I doubt they'll be inclined...particularly after incurring the expense of a lawsuit before you bothered even TRYING to settle.
 

eileenwilson

Junior Member
This sounds REALLY familiar

Anywho...even if you get THIS judgment voided, you WILL end up having another judgment. As for "settling", it can't hurt to ask. But I doubt they'll be inclined...particularly after incurring the expense of a lawsuit before you bothered even TRYING to settle.
I did try to settle, but under the terms that their office moves to set aside the judgment, they refused and sent me a stipulation that only a fool would sign.

Just wondering if anyone else has handled anything under these circumstances... i.e. has had a judgment set aside and how they handled it.
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
Having a default judgment set aside happens frequently.

However, before you go to all that trouble, ask them how much they'd settle for and give you a satisfaction of judgment.

It has to be a settlement (i.e., money) and not a promise to pay.
 

eileenwilson

Junior Member
Having a default judgment set aside happens frequently.

However, before you go to all that trouble, ask them how much they'd settle for and give you a satisfaction of judgment.

It has to be a settlement (i.e., money) and not a promise to pay.
ok cool, thank you SO much. I actually already filed the motion today and was going to call them with an amount to settle for. I mean, like i said, i owe the money...so i want to pay, but I want to keep it out of court as well....too late for that.

I figure if I set aside the judgment, and then settle, it'll never hit my credit. or am i wrong in that?

anyways, thank you so much, your advice is appreciated.
 

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