Is it possible to void this Florida small-claims judgement?

[RHT]

What is the name of your state? Florida
The local sheriff attempted to serve a summons for a pretrial conference on Sep. 1. However, the attempt was made at my previous address; I had moved to another county. My wife still lives at the previous address, and was at home at the time of the service attempt (4p.m. on a Friday). She notified me and stated that the deputy indicated that I could retrieve the summons at the Sheriff Dept., and that if I didn't retrieve it, there would be "serious consequences". He would not disclose to my wife the nature of the action. On my next day off work, Sunday, Sep. 3, I went to the Sheriff's office to retrieve the summons. I was told that I could not retrieve it that day; that I should return on Monday. Back at the car, where my wife was waiting, she reminded me that Monday was a holiday (Labor Day) and suggested that I point out this fact to the S/O personnel. I did this, and they then indicated that I would actually not be able to pick up the summons until Tues., Sep. 5. I notified my supervisor that I would be unable to be at work the morning of Sep. 5 and made another visit to the S/O that morning, retrieveing the summons. The summons indicated that I was to attend a pretrial conference on Sep. 14 and that this conference would be conducted under Rule 1.200 of Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, which states, under 1.200 (c)" Notice. Reasonable notice shall be given for a case management conference, and 20 days' notice shall be given for a pretrial conference". I had only 9 days to work with and was unable to consult with an attorney or otherwise prepare for the conference within that time period, and so resolved to appear at the conference to request additional time to prepare. My first statement to the judge was to convey this "insufficient time to prepare" situation. His response was that this was immaterial, due to the fact that there were only two possible outcomes; either I would agree to a payment plan with the plaintiff or he would render a judgement in favor of the plaintiff (sounds like a "predisposed" case). Of course, the judge has rendered a final judgement in favor of the plaintiff. Can this judgement be contested due to the "insufficient time to prepare" situation?

 

[Debt Guy]

Some states do not allow for "appeal" of a small claims court decision. You might have to bring a suit in state district court to overturn the decision.

I'm guessing that the probability of sucess depends on how good your explanation is for why 9 days was not enough time. You would need a pretty good reason and would need to show that the final court decision would have been different if you have been allowed more time to prepare.

However, if you are trying to overturn a decision on a technicality, I doubt it is worth the cost. You will need to hire an attorney for this and even if you were to win on the technical point, they would just refile the suit and nail you again.

With the limited information you have provided, you might be wiser to just deal with the problem.

 

[RHT]

I would think the fact that the 20 day notice prescribed by Rule 1.200 had not been given would in and of itself show that insufficient notice was given, regardless of my reasons for needing more time. I (nor anyone else) could not possibly show that the outcome WOULD HAVE been different if I had been allowed more time. I was attempting to assess the validity of the claim and my possible defenses. I didn't see the point in paying an attorney (beside the fact that I couldn't afford to) $2,000 to contest a $2,000 claim if I could show the claim to be invalid on my own. Since I work 5 days a week and had already lost 1/2 day to retrieve the summons, I thought it prudent to do my research at nights and weekends. Note that I did attempt to contact legal aid organizations; I received a response from one, after two weeks, at which time they informed me that because my income was $320 per week, I was making too much money and would therefore not be allowed to have my one legal question answered by one of their "Pro Bono" attorneys.

 

[megabux]

Hey, just don't pay the $2000 to the attorney, same as your other creditor. Maybe you could come up with some technicality to avoid that responsibility, also.

NEXT DEADBEAT!!!

 

[RHT]

For a minute, I thought I had mistakenly posted my question in the "Comedy" Forum for Failed Comedians. After confirming that I in fact had not, I thought I might restate my question. The process in question is supposed to be conducted under the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, not the Florida Suggested Guidelines That May or May Not Be Followed in Any Particular Case. Can the Final Judgement handed down in this instance be challenged based on the flawed process? Florida Statute 55.605 states that:

(2) An out-of-country foreign judgement need not be recognized if:
(a) The defendant in the proceedings in the foreign court did not receive notice of the proceedings in sufficient time to enable him or her to defend.

Why would Florida provide that foreign judgements with this flaw need not be recognized, but not apply the same standard to their in-state judgements? I believe that this same standard must apply but have not been able to find the specific provision for this. If so, what form should my challenge take? i.e. an appeal? a motion to/for ...?

 

[TigerD]

You want to file a motion for reconsideration.
Cite USC 1834.334

Under reason for reconsideration scrawl in brightly colored crayon, "I am a total moron."

It won't do you a damn bit of good, but everybody will get another chance to laught at you.

DC

 

[RHT]

Mr./Mrs./Ms./? debtcollector
First, you don't know who you are dealing with, but take my word for it; you are way out of your league. I am not interested in the legal profession and have never studied it, but here's one little tidbit - I have (pro se) more than once laid waste to sizeable corporations and their teams of "lawyers". In one case, a former employer of mine (a billion dollar plus annual revenue company) and their lawyers lost the contest upon my appeal; this AFTER I cussed out the judge when her incessant advocacy for my opponent became more than I could stomach.
Be careful when you attempt to insult the intelligence of others(for your information, I have always ranked in the 99th percentile). Especially when, it appears, you are in the debt-collection business because you have never succeeded in any productive endeavor in your life, along with the fact that ( you ignorant mother****er ) you can't even spell the word "laugh"! Go ahead and edit your reply now so you don't look so damn stupid!
P.S. Did you screw up the U.S.C. reference also? It doesn't seem to exist

 

[TigerD]

Mr./Mrs./Ms./? debtcollector
First, you don't know who you are dealing with, but take my word for it; you are way out of your league. I am not interested in the legal profession and have never studied it, but here's one little tidbit - I have (pro se) more than once laid waste to sizeable corporations and their teams of "lawyers". In one case, a former employer of mine (a billion dollar plus annual revenue company) and their lawyers lost the contest upon my appeal; this AFTER I cussed out the judge when her incessant advocacy for my opponent became more than I could stomach.
Be careful when you attempt to insult the intelligence of others(for your information, I have always ranked in the 99th percentile). Especially when, it appears, you are in the debt-collection business because you have never succeeded in any productive endeavor in your life, along with the fact that ( you ignorant mother****er ) you can't even spell the word "laugh"! Go ahead and edit your reply now so you don't look so damn stupid!
P.S. Did you screw up the U.S.C. reference also? It doesn't seem to exist

Correct the reference doesn't exist. That was the point, meat.
Obviously you gathered your vast knowledge by scouring internet chat boards. But let's put it to the test. Post the case number and lets all take a look at the results. Oh and feel free to post the case number for your other giant victory over a "sizeable" corp and its team of lawyers. I don't believe you, but if you did win -- you should buy a lottery ticket as you are the luckiest SOB that ever lived.

The whole situation is funny as very few people with the background you imply you posses wind up losing cases in small claims court and fewer still would choose to fight with a judge rather than PAY the bloody bill and get on with their life.

Actually, looking at your posts it occurs to me that you have a rather large number of judges "out to get you." In my experience judges tend to be reasonable people and rarely exhibit the type of behavior you claim. However, it is possible that you ran into the two bad apples --- but to me, it is looking like a pattern that you are at fault for.

As for the occasional typo - frankly I don't care about the occasional typo on an internet chat board.

Now in debt collection because I never succeeded at any productive endeavor... For such a seemly smart guy, you also apparently have no clue how important the ARM industry is to business and the economy. Without debt collection, you would not have the economy that created the billion dollar corporations you seem to like bragging about beating in court. So, in a round-a-bout way, you have to thank debt collectors for the opportunity to win a case on appeal -- if you actually did so. Now about that reference?

You make $320 a week? Now that's funny. I sure hope that is take home then you can claim at least $10 per hour. See when I started my response to you, I overlooked that. Now I have to laugh. I made more than $10 an hour in high school. I pay the lady that cleans out my cat boxes more than that -- although to be fair, she hasn't been involved in a lawsuit against a former employer and has more class than to correct minor typos and hasn't ever been sued so she is probably worth it. Oh yeah, she doesn't rank in the 99th percentile of anything I know of but she does have three great kids that will also most likely not score in the 99 percentile and make far more money than you.

If you do have the intelligence you claim it seems you are wasting a wonderful talent. So sad. Your parents must be so proud.

DC

PS -- A corporation is an "it" not a "they". That wasn't a typo on your part but a lack of knowledge of proper English - possibly another reason why such a self-professed smart guy only makes $10 an hour or less. Ha. I'm going to laugh at you for at least 10 minutes. Then, of course, I, like most of your betters, will forget about your existance.

 

[RHT]

Well, let's see. You don't have an answer for my question, so why the **** are you responding? You assume that I've never made more than $10 per hour, when in fact I have made as much as ten times that. You assume that I worship money as much as you do, therefore you expect that I should harass little old ladies over the telephone, as you do to increase your little pile of worthless Federal Reserve Notes.
In fact, this is the first time I've tried to get advice from an "internet chat room", and if they are all full of *******s like you, these forums are as worthless as I expected.
I didn't "lose a case in small claims court". I was denied the opportunity to prepare a defense.The court didn't follow their own notice requirements. Read the original post, dumb-ass.
Don't forget there are plenty of other *******s just like you who had annual incomes exceeding $100,000,000 and are now sitting their punk-asses in jail. Though I assume your income has never quite reached THAT level now, has it? But don't worry. One day something bad will happen to you, through no fault of you own, and there will be other *******s who will try to denigrate you.
Funny. Someone (you) whose income is now $50,000 annually (my annual rate last year, in fact) is trying to feign superiority over someone else (me) whose income is now $20,000 annually, yet there are people out there with incomes exceeding $1,000,000,000 per year, so guess what? You ain't **** either!

 

[megabux]

RHT,

Watch your *******language!