What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
I had a default judgement entered against me in civil court for credit card debt in the amount of about $2500. I was properly served (May), didn't respond, etc.
I was never informed of the default judgement other than via an unsigned (neither the attorney or clerk signed), non-date stamped via from the attorney "Request for Entry of Default" 3 months (August) after the original court summons was filed. This month I received via 1st class mail from the county recorders office an Abstract of Judgment which was issued (mid December) by the court clerk. The Abstract states a judgement was entered in October. The Abstract was filed with the county recorder late December. It was FILED with the county recorder within the 10 days required by Ca Govt § 27297.5(a), however it was not mailed to me until a few days ago, well beyond the 10 day notification window. It was closer to 20 days.
Basically all I received was (1) the summons in May, (2) an unsigned by anyone and undated by any entity a "Request for Entry of Default" 3 months later, and (3) the "Abstract of Judgement" from the county recorder in January.
I live with one of my parents and don't own any real property and I don't have a vehicle. No bank acct, use cash for everything. My income is very minimal (basically unemployed) as I made only $200 last month doing some website work for a company. I don't have anything expensive like jewelry, huge flat screen TVs, etc. Basically my most valuable possession is my laptop which has a damaged but usable screen. Brand new it was only $300 a couple years ago.
My questions:
Shouldn't I have received a signed Notice of Default Entry (or similar) document other than the abstract that was recorded after the judgement was issued?
Is the county recorder's lien valid since they didn't actually notify me until well after the 10 days required?
Since I don't have anything of value, do you think they will file with the SoS to get a lien on personal property? I have not received anything regarding this. How will I be notified if this happens?
The lawyer's office is several hundred miles away. Do you think they will request a debtor's asset examination since they have to appear also (or possibly co-council with a local office to do that? but I've checked other cases locally that are by the same creditor and it's all the same set of attorneys that work at the same firm far away). I've used the county courts website case search to look up other cases filed by this same creditor and I don't see any mention of debtor's examination hearings (forgot the real term but I've read extensively on it) pertaining to this same creditor. Just some orders to show cause, case managements mostly.
If they did try to seize something via sheriff, they would have to require me to go to court for that asset exam, correct? Or can the creditors send an interrogatories that I have to respond to?
I check the court website case search every night after it updates to see if something has been calendared but there's none. If there was a debtor's exam schedule it would have to be schedule with the court before I am served the docs correct? Basically, I should know when they're going to serve me before they actually serve me?
Am I correct to believe that the sheriff simply can't come into my house and exam my stuff to see what can be taken but that it is a requirement of the creditor to specifically list certain items to seize (requiring me to tell them beforehand what I have)? Even then, the total value of my stuff is below the exemption amounts I can claim pertaining to my personal property.
Is there any form or document that they did not serve me or correctly file that I can use as a way to somehow vacate the judgement etc?
What other documents do you think they may serve on me to make me fulfill judgement (writs, etc)?
If they tried to levy the bank account (which by now has been closed for a couple years) that I had once used to do electronic payments to the credit card bill, will I be responsible for any bank fees?
Lastly, do you think they will just stop for now and check back in a few months to see if I am working and then pounce on my paycheck?
Thank you very very much in advance
I had a default judgement entered against me in civil court for credit card debt in the amount of about $2500. I was properly served (May), didn't respond, etc.
I was never informed of the default judgement other than via an unsigned (neither the attorney or clerk signed), non-date stamped via from the attorney "Request for Entry of Default" 3 months (August) after the original court summons was filed. This month I received via 1st class mail from the county recorders office an Abstract of Judgment which was issued (mid December) by the court clerk. The Abstract states a judgement was entered in October. The Abstract was filed with the county recorder late December. It was FILED with the county recorder within the 10 days required by Ca Govt § 27297.5(a), however it was not mailed to me until a few days ago, well beyond the 10 day notification window. It was closer to 20 days.
Basically all I received was (1) the summons in May, (2) an unsigned by anyone and undated by any entity a "Request for Entry of Default" 3 months later, and (3) the "Abstract of Judgement" from the county recorder in January.
I live with one of my parents and don't own any real property and I don't have a vehicle. No bank acct, use cash for everything. My income is very minimal (basically unemployed) as I made only $200 last month doing some website work for a company. I don't have anything expensive like jewelry, huge flat screen TVs, etc. Basically my most valuable possession is my laptop which has a damaged but usable screen. Brand new it was only $300 a couple years ago.
My questions:
Shouldn't I have received a signed Notice of Default Entry (or similar) document other than the abstract that was recorded after the judgement was issued?
Is the county recorder's lien valid since they didn't actually notify me until well after the 10 days required?
Since I don't have anything of value, do you think they will file with the SoS to get a lien on personal property? I have not received anything regarding this. How will I be notified if this happens?
The lawyer's office is several hundred miles away. Do you think they will request a debtor's asset examination since they have to appear also (or possibly co-council with a local office to do that? but I've checked other cases locally that are by the same creditor and it's all the same set of attorneys that work at the same firm far away). I've used the county courts website case search to look up other cases filed by this same creditor and I don't see any mention of debtor's examination hearings (forgot the real term but I've read extensively on it) pertaining to this same creditor. Just some orders to show cause, case managements mostly.
If they did try to seize something via sheriff, they would have to require me to go to court for that asset exam, correct? Or can the creditors send an interrogatories that I have to respond to?
I check the court website case search every night after it updates to see if something has been calendared but there's none. If there was a debtor's exam schedule it would have to be schedule with the court before I am served the docs correct? Basically, I should know when they're going to serve me before they actually serve me?
Am I correct to believe that the sheriff simply can't come into my house and exam my stuff to see what can be taken but that it is a requirement of the creditor to specifically list certain items to seize (requiring me to tell them beforehand what I have)? Even then, the total value of my stuff is below the exemption amounts I can claim pertaining to my personal property.
Is there any form or document that they did not serve me or correctly file that I can use as a way to somehow vacate the judgement etc?
What other documents do you think they may serve on me to make me fulfill judgement (writs, etc)?
If they tried to levy the bank account (which by now has been closed for a couple years) that I had once used to do electronic payments to the credit card bill, will I be responsible for any bank fees?
Lastly, do you think they will just stop for now and check back in a few months to see if I am working and then pounce on my paycheck?
Thank you very very much in advance