A Summary Judgement Request

[JamesD8]

FL.
I have not yet filed BK, but I must and will be doing so shortly. On January 31, 2003 I received a summons from the attorney representing Chase Manhattan Bank.
On February 18, 2003 I filed my answer with the court and directly to the attorney.
Today, on April 15th, I received in the mail a Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgement. I'm not fully sure, but am I reading that the plaintiff's attorney is asking to have a judgement ruled against me immediately? Is this legal? How should I respond to defend myself?

 

[JamesD8]

Anyone? I get the impression I need to do something ASAP to stop the courts from ruling against me without a trial.
I'm desperate. Thank you.

 

[Ladynred]

Yes, the suing attorney is asking for an immediate ruling for a default judgment. How did you Answer the Complaint ? Did you agree with everything or did you deny or disagree with something ? If you agreed with everything, then you admitted to the debt and the court will grant the judgment.

If you're going to file for BK very soon, it really won't make much difference anyway. The question is how soon is 'soon' ? If you're head of household, they can't garnish your wages and your home is totally exempt. Bank accounts are vulnerable, your personal property probably isn't. Even if they get the default judgment, they'll have to go back to court to get any kind of execution of it. Hopefully you can file before that happens. The BK will wipe out the debt and your lawyer can have the judgment vacated after your discharge.

 

[JamesD8]

I'm planning on filing within the next week or so.
I denied a number of the allegations in the summons that I was served with.
The summary judgement states:
1) The substantive allegations of the complaint are admitted in the pleadings and are supported by the affidavit of CHASE representative, attached hereto as Exhibit "A".
2) There are no geniune issues of material fact and the matter is appropriate for summary judgement.

I guess my questions are how fast do the wheels now turn? Will the court rule, say, in a matter of days? If so, can the plaintiff immediately go into my bank account and pull out my savings?

 

[Ladynred]

Do they have your bank account number ? Do they know where you bank ? If not, then the answer is no, they won't go immediately to sieze your account. They still have to go back to court to get a writ of garnishment to take to the bank to get the funds - that's another process. If they don't know where you bank or have any account info, then they'll serve you with interrogatories or drag you into court for a debtor's examination and you'll have to give them all the details of your finances, including account numbers, etc.

The lawyer is asking for summary judgment, standard procedure really. If you denied allegations in your Answer, then I believe its up to the judge to decide if he grants or denies the plaintiff's motion. How fast they move depends on the backlog of the courts docket - no way to tell.

 

[JamesD8]

Many thanks for the information, Ladynred.
One last question........will I be advised of what is happening? Or, will I suddenly be alerted to proceedings AFTER the fact?
As for my assets, no, of course they don't have that info. However, obtaining it isn't very difficult. Running an asset search is inexpensive and quick.
Finally, from a credit rating perspective, does it matter if I file BK and block this proceeding from the get go? Or, is it the same if a judgement is ruled against me and afterwards I file the BK. My understanding is a judgement is forever on your credit report, while a bankruptcy eventually drops off. My thinking is if I "block" this judgement before it is ever granted, my credit report is less damaged. In other words, I would show a BK, but no judgement.

 

[Ladynred]

Well, its almost a toss-up creditwise. A judgment will sit there for 7 years (they are not indefinite) and be total poison for that entire period. A bankruptcy will stay for 10 years, but its affect lessens over time and its actually easier to recover and rebuild credit following a bankruptcy. In 2-4 years you can probably get an UNsecured credit card, but with a judgment you may as well forget credit totally for the next 7.

 

[VeeGee]

What happens if a default judgement is satisfied...the person pays all of what is asked for in judgement, including interests, fee, etc. Does the judgement still go on your credit report, if so, will it show the payment in full as satisfied? Will that still be poison to one's credit report?

 

[Ladynred]

IF you can satisfy the judgment before its picked up or reported to the CRA's then you have a chance of it never hitting your reports. The fact that one was rendered against you is negative, yes. If you pay it all, it should show as 'satisfied' on the court records and on your CR.

Courts don't report judgments to the CRA's, the CRA's pay people who do nothing but scan for public records or they pay one of the other agencies out there that does nothing else.

 

[VeeGee]

You sure your not a lawyer? lol ..many thanx