When an order is made against you, the people who owe you money will try to get it in a different way. There are some things you can do to help ease the pain, which is good news.
Someone has to file a case for that choice to be made. You have time to officially Answer (that’s a legal term, which is why it’s capitalized) and fight the case. If you don’t file an Answer or another type of response to the case, a default ruling will be made against you.
If you go to court and fight and lose, a ruling will be made.
Do I have a court decision against me?
As was said above, you shouldn’t wake up one day to find that a ruling has been made against you. You should get a warning of a case, and then you have a certain amount of time to decide how to reply to the Complaint.
Still, it’s possible that the creditor who sued you did so in error or didn’t serve you at all. It’s also possible that when you got the papers for the case, you thought they were just more letters from the collector.
Most of the time, you will find out about unpaid judgments against you in one of the following ways:
You might get a letter or phone call from a collecting attorney, a warning of garnishment from your payroll department, a freeze on your bank account, or a regular check of your credit report.
When everything else fails, the problem is given to a lawyer. That lawyer sues you and gets a ruling against you so you have to pay.
The judge’s decision is a matter of public record, and the clerk of the court keeps track of it. It will show up on any security checks and on your credit record.
In the state where the ruling is filed, it is considered a lien on your property, including any real estate you own. In other words, a judgment made in California doesn’t affect property in New York unless the creditor also files the California judgment in a New York court.
What can a person with judgment do?
If you’ve been given a judgment, the collector can pay off the debt by freezing your bank account and taking some of your pay. Procedures are different in each state.
In New York, for example, the creditor needs to talk to a law enforcement person like a Marshal or Sheriff. Once that happens, he or she can serve a blocking notice on the bank or any other person or company that owes money to the judgment debtor and finally take the money. If you have a job, the person in charge of enforcing the ruling can take a part of your pay to pay off the debt.
Judgment In New York That Freezes Your Bank Account: Can You Go To Jail?
In California, though, you can’t do anything until 30 days after the judge sends you the Notice of Entry of Judgment. If you don’t do anything to solve the problem within that time, the collector can do the following:
- Make contact with you;
- Levy (seize) goods;
- You are in court to find things you don’t know about;
- If the verdict is for a car crash, your license will be taken away.
- Your professional license (for example, a contractor’s license) could be taken away.
- Put a hold on a piece of land, a building, or a home.
How to deal with a court ruling against you
Once the decision has been made and written down, you can’t change it. A court has agreed with the collector that you owe money. So, here are some things for you to think about:
- Pay the full amount due; work with the creditor to settle the debt or come up with a good payment plan; let the creditor take your
- Property to pay off the debt;
- A wage garnishee will force you to pay back the debt;
What Will You Choose?
The person who owes you money can take steps to make your life even harder. If you know everything you need to know about your choices, it makes a big difference. Don’t just ignore things, no matter what. That makes things even worse.
