You can appeal, but expect to be required to pay an appeal bond in the amount of the judgment. If you appeal or move to vacate, you need grounds for the judge to rule on. Without grounds, expect to lose. The judgment will remain on your credit report for as long as it is valid, which can be more than 7 years.
Mr freedman has set forth out the basics. To add to his comments, once the creditor (plaintiff) has a judgment they will eventually try to enforce (collect) the judgment via wage/account garnishment.
Once you fall behind on a debt your credit record is marked for 7 years. Here you fell behind and were sued. There was a court hearing and a judgment was entered against you. This history of these events will most likely appear on your credit record for 7 years. Once the judgment is entered the creditor's attorney will look for assets to satisfy...
Even if you don't end up hiring a lawyer, an experienced debt settlement attorney can help you evaluate the creditor's case and your personal circumstances to determine the best course for you.
If you owe the amount that the creditor is seeking in its lawsuit, hiring a lawyer might be a waste of time and money. If you don't have a defense or counterclaim and the creditor can easily prove its case, then you'll lose. You'll then owe the judgment amount, have to pay your own attorney, and might have pay the creditor's attorneys' fees too. (In some types of cases, the losing party has to pay the other side's attorneys' fees).
When a creditor sues you to collect debt you haven't paid, you have three choices to deal with the lawsuit: allow the creditor to obtain a judgment against you (called a "default judgment") defend the lawsuit yourself, or. hire an attorney to represent you in the lawsuit. Which option is best for you will depend on a number of factors.
A defense is a reason why you aren't liable for the debt or a reason why the creditor shouldn't be allowed to collect the debt. Here are some common defenses to creditor suits: the statute of limitations (the time period in which the creditor must bring the lawsuit) has run.
Being judgment proof really means that you are collection proof. That is, if the creditor gets a judgment against you, can it collect it through wage garnishment, taking your bank account funds, or the like? If not, you are judgment proof. (Learn more about what being judgment proof means .)
Even if you have a good defense to the lawsuit, you'll want to consider the amount of the debt before hiring an attorney. Attorneys' fees can add up quickly. If you hire a lawyer to defend a lawsuit over a small debt, you might end up owing more in attorneys' fees than you would if you chose not to defend the suit.
But keep in mind that a lawsuit for a relatively small amount can grow if the creditor gets a judgment against you. The creditor will ask the court to include not only the debt balance, but the amount of the creditor's attorneys' fees, court costs, and interest.
An attorney you know or have worked with before may be able to refer you to an attorney who has experience in consumer law.
Low income consumers may qualify for legal aid. Find an office in your state here.
Some attorneys may also offer free services, or charge a reduced fee. There may also be legal aid offices or legal clinics in your area that will offer their services for free if you meet certain criteria.
I have a judgement that's 6 yrs old. I need a low cost lawyer aware of consumer law to help me negotiate a settlement and get the judgement off my credit report! I want to settle and speed the payments out over several months.
Why hire a lawyer? The money you pay him can go towards the judgement. Look at it this way. You can write a letter to the ?? asking them to consider an offer of settlement for complete removal. Make a reasonable offer and ask that all correspondence be in writing. Don't lowball too much. They more than likely will respond with a counter.
The reason to hire a lawyer is because they might pull a fast one. First of all the original judgement is for $3500, 6 yrs of interest (allowed by law), and penalties, processing fees, blah,
It could be worth a try. Go to naca.com and look for a lawyer in your area. All those listed are consumer attorneys. When you find one, be sure to have him go over all of the paperwork in hopes of a possible error in the judgement. I didn't realize it was that much. Most of all, they have to remove the negative off of the CR or no pay.
If all you want is an attorney to send your letter offering a settlement, get a prepaidlegal attorney for that. They can do it for around $35 once you sign up (that is the fee in most states). They can send the letter out for you within a couple of days. If you're interested I can give you the number of a friend of mine who sells prepaid legal.
If you ignore the lawsuit, the court will enter an automatic judgment against you, known as a default judgment. 1 Of course, even if you file an answer to the lawsuit, you can still lose the case.
1 . If your state allows it, the judgment can file a levy with the court and your employer, instructing the employer to garnish a portion of your wages, to pay the creditor.
Depending on your state, a judgment remains valid from 5 to 20 years or more. 5 6 That's a long time for a debt to follow you around. Furthermore, judgments show up on credit reports for up to seven years and may appear on background checks until the judgments expire, whichever is longer. 7 .
Judgments can disrupt your finances and your job, and they can prevent you from obtaining insurance, renting an apartment, or gaining security clearances. Therefore it is well worth the effort it takes to attempt to negotiate a settlement before things get into court and to defend any lawsuit filed against you .
If your state allows it, the judgment can file a levy with the court and your employer, instructing the employer to garnish a portion of your wages, to pay the creditor. Garnishments may also target bank accounts.
Once the domestication process is completed, the creditor will then have a Sister-State-Judgment- which will be a legitimate and enforceable Arizona judgment.
Many judgments simply lie fallow indefinitely because their owners lack the time, energy, and expertise to pursue payment.
Arizona Judgment Lawyers specializes in representing judgment creditors against their debtors, with no upfront cost to you. We offer free consultations, and firmly believe that we should not be paid unless you are paid. Our fees are simply a portion of the money we collect on your behalf. No recovery. No fee.
Plaintiff obtains a judgment, and at some point either before the judgment enforcement begins (or sometimes during) the defendant/judgment debtor picks up and leaves the state, likely rendering judgment collection almost impossible in the state where the judgment was issued.
You will benefit from the right lawyers to help you collect your judgment.
Unfortunately for creditors, judgment enforcement laws are all different depending on the state, and you cannot enforce any judgment against a debtor in Arizona unless it is an Arizona judgment. Fortunately for creditors, the Arizona state legislature has enacted the Enforcement of Foreign Judgment Act, which provides a process by which an out of state creditor can “move” (or “domesticate”) their out of state judgment to Arizona, and start enforcing here. This sometimes called the Sister State Judgment process. The judgment must be domesticated (or “Sister-Stated”) to the courthouse local to where the debtor resides- meaning the debtor must be tracked down, and the domestication papers filed in the Debtors local County Court.