Do I sign consent judgement?

This weekend I was served by the sheriff's dept in the county in MI where I live with a summons regarding a car loan I defaulted on. I contacted the lawyer directly and it was suggested by them that they write up an agreement to a consent judgement where I pay 50/month and 6.9%int. Even though I am willing to pay the 50/mo, (I have only unemployment benefits and my wife's child support as income; our only asset is a car worth approx 6,000 for which we owe 22,000), does this mean that they could still garnish wages later? If so, should I still go forth w/ the payment arrangement/consent judgement, or is there another route that would better serve our situation? Should I pay the 50/mo? Is there a way to prevent a judgement from being entered at this point?

OK Reese. You are starting out with very little information. First, what are your intentions? Do not sign anything without talking to a lawyer. If you do, you could damage a “clean start”. I implore you to stay cool as all you got was a summons to appear. You should have 20 or 30 days to respond. That is time enough to stall them. No you don’t want a judgment but it is not the last hope in the world as it can be set aside in a bk. If you sign an agreement, that may not be the case. ‘Hub

BTW, were you served Saturday or Sunday? Sunday service is not binding and breaks the law. 'Hub

BTW, were you served Saturday or Sunday? Sunday service is not binding and breaks the law. 'Hub

Hi 'Hub. That depends on what state Reese is in. It is illegal for service to be done on Sundays in Florida. But that might not be true in some of the other states.

sounds like you might be eligible to talk to legal aid, in your county, sometimes they are a great help in situations like this. they should be able to advise you on what to do

I'm in Michigan and was served on a Saturday. As for my intentions, I am not sure at this point. I do not want to have to find 50/mo, and quite frankly, I'm not sure if I can. I don't want a judgement, for obvious reasons, so I would like to be able to pay on the account w/o a judgement. One of my big questions is why would they enter into an agreement at 50/mo and almost 7% int, which would take over 300 years to repay? Are they planning on garnishing my pay in the future?

How close are you to filing?

You typically have 20 days to answer a summons. You will need to appear in court on the appointed date. If the small claims court behaves similar to the way ours did, you will be asked if you legitimately owe the debt. I would say that you neither admit or deny.

Typically a date is set for you and the creditor to go to Arbitration. In our county, Arbitration is only held once a month. In our case, that date was almost an entire month away. However, that date was for a date that we would be out of town for an event that had already been scheduled and could not be postponed. We spoke up and said so. That put our date for Arbitration back ANOTHER month.

By then, we had our paperwork in order and had filed which brought all proceedings to a screeching halt.

That debt was discharged and that was that.

But you will need to appear in court. If you don't, you will be slapped with a default judgment and the creditor can the take steps to garnish your wages.

Good luck!

But you will need to appear in court. If you don't, you will be slapped with a default judgment and the creditor can the take steps to garnish your wages.

Good luck!

Can they garnish unemployment and child support? Seems like he's safe there...

You might need to worry about them siezing bank accounts though.

There was no court date on the paperwork. It just said I was being sued, layed out their charges/claims against me, and let me know I had 21 days to file an answer w/ the court.

Another question is: It was only my name on the lawsuit. I got the car before I was married, but defaulted on the loan and had it repossessed after I was married. Can they go after any of my wife's property; bank accounts w/ her name on it, car w/ her as primary, etc?

I'm in Michigan and was served on a Saturday. As for my intentions, I am not sure at this point. I do not want to have to find 50/mo, and quite frankly, I'm not sure if I can. I don't want a judgement, for obvious reasons, so I would like to be able to pay on the account w/o a judgement. One of my big questions is why would they enter into an agreement at 50/mo and almost 7% int, which would take over 300 years to repay? Are they planning on garnishing my pay in the future?

Yes. Once you have signed this consent judgment, you are bound by the agreement. The reason the attorney for the car company told you to sign the consent judgment is then he does not have to take you to trial - you already admitted to the debt and agreed to the judgment. From that point they can garnish wages, sieze accounts etc.

So, your instinct is right. DO NOT SIGN IT. Answer the summons - or file BK to discharge this and other debts. If you are filing BK, why pay this one?

If it were me in my state, I would not consent to anything. On the other hand, I would think that the $50 per month legal agreement would protect you from additional wage garnishment on this loan. Call then back and tell them you agree to the $50 per month payment, but are not willing to consent to a voluntary judgment.

Another question is: It was only my name on the lawsuit. I got the car before I was married, but defaulted on the loan and had it repossessed after I was married. Can they go after any of my wife's property; bank accounts w/ her name on it, car w/ her as primary, etc?

Reese your summons then needs a written response in this form: “Answer to complaint dated xx/xx/09 etc. etc. but make sure you date it, and send it certified as well as put in your letter attachment of the original (copy) summons and docket number if there is one.

No they cannot garnish unemployment or child support. They can get your stuff though with a writ of attachment. ‘Hub

P.S. also whatever your wife owned on her own before marriage is hers. Anything you purchased after marriage is joint property. I’m talking Florida now but most states also. Check your own state.

service isn't binding in FL on Sundays? I had no idea, and I'm a paralegal! lol. I don't work in the service department, though. Very interesting fact, hub... I'll remember that in case anyone tries to serve my fiancee on his old repo.

If it were me in my state, I would not consent to anything. On the other hand, I would think that the $50 per month legal agreement would protect you from additional wage garnishment on this loan. Call then back and tell them you agree to the $50 per month payment, but are not willing to consent to a voluntary judgment.

Treehugger1, I respectfully disagree. He may have many more creditors. If you open a door to one, then others have a foot in it. Also if he does what you suggested and needs to go back six months of history if he files bk, it looks like a preferential payment. CLEAN START is the idea. This creditor sounds devious to me. ‘Hub

Is bankruptcy able to get rid of this type of judgment, meaning a consented judgment if it's for credit card debt?

Is bankruptcy able to get rid of this type of judgment, meaning a consented judgment if it's for credit card debt?

No, no that is not what we mean. Bk can negate a Judgment but the kind the OP was talking about was just like a reaffirmation agreement. He would be obligated to pay and the creditor would not be discharged. ‘Hub

Oh, I know that op was talking about something else, I was just wondering if it can, in general.

I guess I would be more concerned about owing 22K on a vehicle worth 6k. It sounds to me that the battle is completely uphill with no relief in the immediate future. In terms of preferential payments, $50 per month will not look like a preference. Just my humble opinion.

We were warned rather sternly by our attorney NOT to make any side deals with one creditor, or more, outside of the BK proceeding. Otherwise we would be in serious jeopardy of being dismissed.

Now the timeline for us would be between the date we filed and the date of eventual discharge. For you, not having filed yet, you could do it, but as others ahead of me have warned, I recommend STRONGLY that you NOT enter into any type of agreement with this creditor.

Want to point out where a "consented judgment" can not be vacated by a BK under the BK code? As you know, a reaffirmation agreement is something that is done within the BK court. Any agreements, judgments or contracts, with the exception of those that are specifically not dischargeable under the BK code can be discharged. by "Bigboy2U above.

It is in the stipulation as we have this in our own bk. He is agreeing to make a Judgment that is not capable of being discharged. Of course it is all in the way a lawyer will word it as in all cases. You are correct that the OP is concerned more about this Judgment than bankruptcy. As to the little he has told, to us, it looks like he is a candidate for a 7 just on the car alone. If he wished to "Pay through" on the credit card that would be different. He would not have to sign anything. No Judgment is good but a consent Judgment is hard to get broken as the consent Judgment is an agreement between both parties, to negate a trial and the Judge then orders the Judgment under the terms of the document.

So I guess as little as we know about this OP, he needs to open up more to us.

Also, a preferential payment does not require a minimum amount. Yes of course they look for over $600, but you cannot pick and choose who to pay in 7 or 13. Even a reaffirmation has to be approved by the Court as an exception, and is certainly not dischargeable in the bk. However a ride through is. 'Hub

P.S. It is very dangerous to make any side agreements before filing as it could be construed as a constructive abuse. 'Hub

I think my ignorance of the whole process is coming off as not being forthcoming. I am willing to share any information that may help you guys w/ advice, I just don't know what I'm doing. I did contact a lawyer today who advised me not to sign anything because he wants to see if the the people suing me actually bought my debt!? The lawyer says that if I pay him $750, he'll file an answer to the summons, etc, and get me out of the situation w/o a judgement on my record. Great....now where do I come up w/ $750!? Feel free to ask for any info that will help!

A consent judgment is an agreement entered into by both parties at court.
If you don't rememember exactly what it is you agreed to, you need to go to the court and have them pull the jacket and give you a copy of the order.The pie lover is correct. This means that you two reached agreement without the judge, but the agreement has the same power as any other judgement even though the judge did not rule on it (does not ahve to since you agree).

I wouldn't sign anything!



Make them go through the expense and bother of getting a judgment. Then when you file BK that judgment becomes worthless to them.