What to do about a judgement for a lawsuitI was never served for?
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What to do about a judgement for a lawsuitI was never served for?
I was recently garnished for a judgment awarded 6 years ago. I was served with a summons and was aware of that lawsuit but didn’t show up in court. It was entirely my fault. Since being garnished, I became very vigilant and enrolled in a monitoring program to always be able to check my credit report. I found out this morning, also 6 years ago, a law firm sued me for a debt for which I was never served. I was browsing the county public record and found out there was a hearing back then. The law firm sent me a letter after that trying to negotiate a deal and never mentioned the lawsuit. I kept those letters. I am convinced this is a case of “sewer service”. The court result says “dismissed no fund” I don’t know what that means.
Asked on September 22, 2011 under Bankruptcy Law, Virginia
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
I am a bit confused here. Are these two different law suits or are you talking about the same law suit i the court files as the one that resulted in the garnishment? Because you readily admit here that you were properly served with the legal papers in the garnishment case and just did not appear in court. That is known as a default. And they obtained a default judgement. As for the other matter, it appears that the court did not allow the plaintiff to recover - dismissed is dismissed even if the "no fund" is an idiom of Virginia. You can ask the county clerk what the term means. Or seek to see the law clerk for the Judge who was sitting at the bench for that case. If there has been some injustice in obtaining a judgement then you have to move to vacate the judgement. Good luck.
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