summary judgment

[joemuni]

What is the name of your state? new jersey
Credit card debtor attorney put in motion for summary judgment.
Lawyer I consulted told me I don't need to answer, since I am filing BK in the next few weeks, and that will stop court action.
I'm not sure if I don't answer what will happen, and how much time do I have to file BK, before a judgment is entered ?

Thanks for Responses.

 

[dorenephilpot]

A motion for summary judgment is a request by a party to the court to render a judgment in their favor based on the fact that the party being sued has no defensible position -- or has failed to respond to the lawsuit as required, despite notice.

If you file your BK petition before the judgment is granted, the creditor is notified and that stops the suit dead in its tracks because it's a violation of the law for the creditor to continue to pursue collections action against you after it got notice of the BK filing. Therefore, a judgment will not be granted under those circumstances.

However, if a judgment is granted and then you file the BK petition after that, then you'll have to go to the court that issued the judgment and get it vacated on the grounds that once the debt is discharged by the BK court, the debt no longer exists.

That will take an extra step by your attorney and probably is not included in the cost of handling the BK for you.

Hope this answers your question.

 

[joemuni]

to Dorenephilpot,

Thank you for reply,

An answer was filed to the original complaint.
I don't think there is a factual dispute for this summary judgment.
If judgment is granted can they use it to object to the BK discharge ?
I'm trying to decide if I should try to answer this motion, or go ahead and work on filing BK papers.
Do I need to tell Court, if I don't answer ?

Thanks for response.

 

[dorenephilpot]

A mere judgment wouldn't be grounds to object to the discharge.

Now, say it was for an intentional tort -- for example, you deliberately ran over someone with your car, and the judgment was for that, THEN they could object rightfully to the discharge.

Or if it were a non-dischargeable debt, such as a debt that was in the nature of child support -- they would probably object rightfully to that.

They might object to the discharge of the deht merely on the grounds that it ticks them off. They can object all they want. The court won't care about that.

Now, if you have an order to appear in court, you must go -- and just give them the info on your BK.

No one will toss you in jail for owing money. You MIGHT get tossed in jail for failing to obey a court order to personally appear, however.

Hope this information helps!