Judgement: Dispute or Vacate?

[RepairCR]

Ok, I've read almost every post here on disputing judgments and I'm understanding that there are pretty much 2 options: We can dispute the judgment with the CRAs and follow the thread Guide to Disputing/Removing Judgments or we can file a motion to vacate judgment if we weren't served properly. My question is which should we try first?

I checked the case online and it shows Status: disposed, which I understand means they do have a recorded judgment. This is on my husband's CR and he doesn't remember ever being served. The judgment is almost 3 years old. We now live about 45 minutes to 1 hour from the courthouse and we are going to be in the area tomorrow (last minute plans) and I would like to take advantage if filing a motion to vacate is our best option.

I appreciate any advice you have to offer.
Thanks!

[Trish]

Call the courthouse. They should be able to tell you how the papers were served. Then look up your state laws to see if your husband was served properly. If he was not served properly and rules were not followed then yes, definitely try to file for a motion to vacate. You may be able to do some of it online..........or at least download the forms and have everything filled out once you get to the courthouse.......so when you talk to the clerk ask them if they have online forms and what the procedure would be for filing a motion to vacate the judgment.

HTH and good luck!

[Trish]

p.s....forgot to mention/explain one thing....

If you ever have the chance to vacate a judgment......definitely do that.

Disputing only removes it from your credit report......it does not excuse you from paying the debt.
Vacating it will actually remove the judgment and the ONLY way the company would be able to garnish wages or come after you for the money is if they serve you and file a lawsuit AGAIN. So....say you are able to get it vacated and now the debt is out of SOL.....they technically cannot try to sue you (if they did you would have an affirmative defense). Of course if it's still within SOL, they will probably try to come after you again but at least this time you would be somewhat prepared.

If it turns out you were served properly.......then go ahead and dispute it with the CRAs.... it may be a valid judgment/debt but at least you can still try getting if off of your reports.

[CreditCrisis]

I have asked about this judgment before, I know it!

My husband and I have an unlawful detainer for $5,150 on both our reports that is not correct by who the primary is or the amount. Not worried about that part. Also, there are two other people on the judgment and it reports on all four of our reports in the amount of $5,150!!

I have sent the plaintiff before an offer to settle for $700. I calculated out in the letter how I came up with that as being what my husband and I owed. He agreed to remove the judgment from both of our reports and court records for this amount.

I have not yet paid him (just because I did not have the funds) and the letter stated it was not a promise yada yada, stole if from Trish actually

My question is; couldn’t I take that somewhere to show that the judgment was incorrectly filed if he signed the paper and agrees that the full $5,150 $10,300 is not owed by us?

Thanks!!

[Trish]

Originally Posted by CreditCrisis

My question is; couldn’t I take that somewhere to show that the judgment was incorrectly filed if he signed the paper and agrees that the full $5,150 $10,300 is not owed by us?

Thanks!!

I guess I'm not sure what it is you have.....is it a letter stating that the judgment was filed incorrectly? what kind of letter is it or what exactly does it say?

[CreditCrisis]

It basically states that I do not agree that each party included in the 4 person judgment owes him $5,150. it then goes on to explain that he had a $1,900 deposit left, and 30 day notice from my husband and I that we were moving out 2 year prior to the date that he is trying to charge us up to. (we moved in September, the judgment includes rent for November and December) that leaves our total liable amount to be $250. So I offered to pay him $700 to remove it from mine and my husbands credit as well as recall it from the courts.

He signed the paper showing that he agreed with what I had to say. Can I use this as any kind of proof for anything????

[Trish]

Hmm......not sure. Does this have anything to do with the breach of contract question you asked in another thread? (if it is, we might want to move this part of the thread over there)
If so.....I would be trying to get a consult with an atty to see if there is anything you can do about that..

[RepairCR]

First off, thank you Trish for the info. you provided and for answering so quickly. But now I have 2 follow up questions.

My husband called the courthouse, but they said they couldn't give him info. over the phone, only by mail or in person. So he went and discovered that they served the neighbors (2x's) at an apartment we had not lived at for at least 3 years. I tried to read our state laws (CA) to see if that is considered being served properly (even though it doesn't seem like it is), but it might as well be written in a foreign language because I just don't understand it.

So, my questions are: can you please help us figure out if that is considered being served properly? And if not, is there a SOL to file a motion to vacate judgment?

Once again, I thank you for any info. you can offer.

[CreditCrisis]

Hey Trish; no the two are not related.

Originally Posted by RepairCR

First off, thank you Trish for the info. you provided and for answering so quickly. But now I have 2 follow up questions.

My husband called the courthouse, but they said they couldn't give him info. over the phone, only by mail or in person. So he went and discovered that they served the neighbors (2x's) at an apartment we had not lived at for at least 3 years. I tried to read our state laws (CA) to see if that is considered being served properly (even though it doesn't seem like it is), but it might as well be written in a foreign language because I just don't understand it.

So, my questions are: can you please help us figure out if that is considered being served properly? And if not, is there a SOL to file a motion to vacate judgment?

Once again, I thank you for any info. you can offer.

I also live in CA and I am pretty sure that for it to be considered being served properly, you have to sign for it if its sent by mail and you have to be handed it face to face if its in person.

Also, CA is very unfair with how long you have to file a Motion to vacate. I think it has be within like 9 months or something radiculous?

I would definately try to talk to an attorney about it though. maybe see if there are actually any violations going on here. might be able to settle it by default.

[RepairCR]

Hi CreditCrisis,
I didn't think it was fair for Cali to give such a short time frame to vacate a judgment, especially since we weren't even aware of the judgment until now (almost 3 years later, shame on us). So I started looking online and found some info. that says you can file within 180 days of finding out you have a judgment. So there is still hope!!! My husband and I will get on this ASAP.

Thanks for the info.