You have a judgment against you and the only course of action is for you to file a motion to vacate, since you were not notified of the court date. This is called improper service. However, in order to file you need to gather a few facts together.
When to file a motion to dismiss a judgment?
The reason and the timing of your motion are very important and really should not be done without the assistance of a lawyer. Generally speaking, if you had no actual notice of the lawsuit (for example, you were not served properly), you have two years from the date the judgment was entered against you to make the motion.
What happens if a judgment is filed against you in New York?
Procedures differ from state to state. For example, in New York the creditor needs to get in touch with an enforcement officer such as a Marshal or Sheriff. Once that happens, he or she can serve a restraining notice on the bank, or on some other person or business that owes money to the judgment debtor,…
How long does it take to file a judgment in a state?
Depending on your state, you typically only have one year or less from the date the judgment was granted to file your motion. You didn’t say what state you were in, so it’s hard for me to tell you definitively whether or not it is still possible to file.
When is a judgment not really a judgment?
Sometimes a “judgment” is not really a judgment, like when the district court has not yet issued a declaration of the parties’ rights. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure define a “judgment” as any decree or order from which an appeal lies.
When is a judgment is not appealable or final?
The court explained that an action under the Declaratory Judgment Act is not final until the district court specifies the parties’ rights. The district court in WM Capital never did that. So the appeal was premature. The court also explained that WM Capital illustrates why a specific declaration of rights is so important.
What happens if a judgment is 2 years old?
If you knew about the lawsuit but did not timely respond, you have 6 months to make the motion based upon “excusable neglect”. The horror story I hear all too often is that the judgment is more than 2 years old, the consumer never knew about it, and now nothing can be done about it. The 2-year limit is a law that needs to be changed.
