Should I Pay This Judgment?

Years ago, you were sued.  You lost, either because you didn’t properly defend yourself and allowed a default judgment to be entered, or, because you didn’t hire an attorney.  Now years later the collector is trying to enforce the judgment and is demanding that you pay.  Or, you’re trying to buy a new home and this blemish on your credit report is in the way.  What to do?  Consult with a consumer attorney.  Let us review the judgment paperwork to see if anything can be done.  There are numerous notices that have to be sent to you when you are sued and they have to be near perfect.  Any simple mistake in them can be enough to possibly strike the judgment.  You also had to be served with the lawsuit. We find that many times our clients have no idea that they were ever sued and are confused as to why there is a judgment against them.

The essential court documents are a copy of the Complaint (the lawsuit), a copy of the Important Notice (sometimes called a 10 day notice), a copy of the default judgment, a copy of the sheriff return, and a copy of the entire docket statement.  If the lawsuit was filed at the local District Justice, then we would need the Complaint, Judgment, Proof of Service, and Docket Statement.  The court has these documents in its records office, you’ll simply have to get copies of them for us to review.  If we can find a mistake we can then move to attack the judgment.  If we can make the judgment go away, it’s as if the lawsuit was anew.  That is, we are then in a position to enforce all of your rights and present all of your defenses to that lawsuit.  In most cases, especially if a junk debt buyer is involved, this will be the end of the lawsuit.

Even if we cannot strike the judgment for certain, we can contact the collector and try to work out a favorable settlement for you.  We deal with the same collectors every day and have very good relationships with most of them.  In most cases, we’ll work out a much more favorable deal than you could, and we’ll ensure that the settlement is final.

If you are facing a problem because of an old default judgment, please contact us at 412-348-8600 before you contact the judgment creditor.  Our consult is free and there is no obligation to hire us.  You will receive great information and a possible solution to your financial problem.