Debt and waiting it out (not filing BK)...is it a realistic possibility?

[PHXDWTN]

LadyInTheRed: Thank you for all your help, you've motivated me to dig up all the paperwork related to this lawsuit and here is what I found...

These are all dated/court stamped papers

Complaint: 12/05/07

Summons: 12/10/07

Order Authorizing Alternative Service: 05/07/08

Affidavit of Service by Mailing: 05/23/08

Summons (2nd Summons):05/27/08

Answer to Complaint (from me): 06/13/08

Plaintiff's Initial 26.1 Disclosure Statement: 07/04/08

Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment: 08/04/2008

2+ years later...

Notice of Release of Garnishment (to Chase Bank): 01/06/11 - This form is not signed/stamped by the court, just signed by the attorney of the Plaintiff.

Now here's the kicker...I found a form that says Judgment on it...but it is not dated, signed or stamped!. The area where it says "DONE IN OPEN COURT this____ day of _____ 2008" is all blank. Quite frankly I don't even remember where I got it...if it came by mail or if it was once on the Recorder's Office website.


Any input is greatly appreciated.

[LadyInTheRed]

How do I find out if there is a Judgment if it is not recorded though?

You need to check with the court. Some courts allow you to look up your case on their websites. You can also go to the court to review the case file. You could also try calling the court, but they may not be willing to look up your case and give you info over the phone. It depends on the court and maybe even who answers the phone.

The Writ of Garnishment that was on your account is a pretty good indication that they have a judgment. Also, if there was a motion for summary judgment and neither you nor your attorney appeared in court or filed some kind of response, there is likely a judgment.

[LadyInTheRed]

Now here's the kicker...I found a form that says Judgment on it...but it is not dated, signed or stamped!. The area where it says "DONE IN OPEN COURT this____ day of _____ 2008" is all blank. Quite frankly I don't even remember where I got it...if it came by mail or if it was once on the Recorder's Office website.

That sounds like a proposed Judgment. It was probably submitted to the court with the motion for summary judgment. A copy might have been included when you were served with the motion. If the court granted the motion, it would have signed that judgment. You need to check with the court records, not the county recorder, to find out if the judgment was signed.

[PHXDWTN]

You got to it before me!

I realized that that "blank" Judgment was actually a copy of the form that their attorney filed with the court, which is obviously why it's not signed.

Yes, I do need to check with the court if the Judgment was actually signed off on. I will do that tomorrow. Thanks again for all the help.

[PHXDWTN]

Well, looks like I do in fact have a Judgment. I went to the court his morning and they printed it up...it was done Sept. 4, 2008. I guess I'll wait and see if it renew it before Sept. 4, 2013.

It's still strange that it is not recorder with the County Recorder and does not show up on ANY of the 3 credit reports.

[LadyInTheRed]

How do I find out if there is a Judgment if it is not recorded though? I have never received anything from their attorney that says I have a Judgment against my name. It does not show up on any credit report either.

My Experian credit report does show that on 11/11/2010, the attorney who filed the lawsuit ran a credit check on me, not sure why.

It should show up on your credit report, but I wouldn't rely on it as credit reports are often not accurate. The creditor's attorney does not need to notify you that a judgement was entered. You had notice of their motion, so it was up to you to stay up to date on how the judge ruled.

Check the court's website to see if you can get case information on line. If not, you can try calling the court to see if they will look up the case and tell you if there is a judgement (have the case number ready), but they may not be willing to give you info over the phone. You may have to go to the court to look up the case, either on a computer at the court or by reviewing the acutal case file.

[PHXDWTN]

LadyInTheRed: You may have missed my last post I made in reply...

Well, looks like I do in fact have a Judgment. I went to the court his morning and they printed it up...it was done Sept. 4, 2008. I guess I'll wait and see if it renew it before Sept. 4, 2013.

It's still strange that it is not recorder with the County Recorder and does not show up on ANY of the 3 credit reports.

[LadyInTheRed]

LadyInTheRed: You may have missed my last post I made in reply....

Yep, I started the reply and had to do something else. You must have posted again before I came back to finish.

Well, looks like I do in fact have a Judgment. I went to the court his morning and they printed it up...it was done Sept. 4, 2008. I guess I'll wait and see if it renew it before Sept. 4, 2013.

It's still strange that it is not recorder with the County Recorder and does not show up on ANY of the 3 credit reports.

It's not strange that it is not recorded since it isn't required in order to go after your bank accounts. I agree it's strange that it doesn't appear on your credit reports. Did you check the section in the reports on public records?

[PHXDWTN]

Yea, I went through every page of all 3 reports and in the section of "Public Records", it says "You have no public records".

I haven't heard from them or dealt with them at all in 2+ years until that "Notice of release of garnishment" came in a few weeks back. They haven't tried to collect on the debt or anything.

[kornellred]

This has got to be one of the strangest threads on the BK forum.

[PHXDWTN]

Why do you say that?

[kornellred]

You have 50K in unsecured debt from years ago and creditors have not gotten a single penny from you?

[PHXDWTN]

Yea, I agree it is strange. It may be because they've had nothing to take. I put my car in my sisters name a long time ago. I'm self employed and wasnt taking wages until more recently (so I guess they couldn't garnish wages since there weren't any). I guess they could have garnished my bank account?

[SunshineGal]

Yea, I went through every page of all 3 reports and in the section of "Public Records", it says "You have no public records".

I haven't heard from them or dealt with them at all in 2+ years until that "Notice of release of garnishment" came in a few weeks back. They haven't tried to collect on the debt or anything.

You probably don't have any "Public Records" because the judgment wasn't recorded in the official records, which is where that information would come from.

[PHXDWTN]

Which is fine by me. I wonder if there is a time limit of when they can record that. It's been 2+ years since the judgment was granted.