Hello, please help again ,

[JANICE2005]

What is the name of your state?NEW JERSEY, Hello, i have asked for help recently on here since I recieved a summons saying I was being sued for a credit card debt, I replied as the papers said, I believe its referred to as, the answer, I since then had recieved a postcard telling me a court date of oct.6,2005, for my case. So Ive been trying to find out what to do ----well my question today is, I just recieved a letter from the court saying that the people that are suing me, have won! it reads ---- this matter being opened to the court by the people who are the plaintiffs ---the court has reviewed and ordered that the judgement is entered in their favor! at the bottom of the page there are two selections opposed and unopposed and the unopposed is marked??????? what the world just happened???? how can they win when we didnt even go to court yet----its supposed to be in oct?????? im so very confused, i just dont know what happened and now what to do=-----I mean I havent even got a lawyer yet! please if anyone can tell me how did they have a court ruling and win without ever telling me to be there too? thank-you, janice

 

[Some Random Guy]

Go to the courthouse, in person, and find out what is going on. Either your answer was lost or else you have misread some of your paperwork. Once you find out what the problem is, you can try to get the judgement set aside and the trial put back on track.

 

[JANICE2005]

Went to court house

new jersey, the clerk there said not to worry about it because I dont have any property or anything for them to take! plus she said but call legal aid and see if I can get their help or have them recommend a lawyer and if I have a checking account to take my name off of it,because its a joint account, she said they cant do anything and it doesnt mean anything, but that sounds completely crazy to me! she never explained how did they win when I never even got to go to court, she said shes not allowed to tell me anymore over the counter????? Im even more confused, plus if they freeze my bank account ,well I really dont know what to do, I thought I had until oct.6-05 because thats what the court postcard said, to be there on that date at 9am, I thought I had time to get the legal help & file the bankruptcy, if anyone has any advice please reply, thank-you again, janice

 

[mymymy]

Janice.. I know it's nearly impossible.. but, take a deep breath. You DO have a little time.

The clerk had no business giving you legal advice in any way.. she is not an attorney and I know that here, in Florida, she would have lost her job on the spot.

OK.. you will need to go back down there and purchase a copy of the judgement. That's where your answers are. Don't get into a big long conversation with the employees at the clerks office.. just get a copy of the judgement. OK?

You'll have a much clearer picture of what happened then and can address it accordingly. I'm sure many people here, myself included, will help you figure some stuff out. Ultimately, you will probably need to get to legal aide, a BK attorney for a free consultation or start getting your BK papers in order to file pro se.

Since you are going to file BK- it's a good idea to get started. You will be listing this creditor and the underlying debt will be wiped out but, since there appears to be a judgement- you'll have to file a seperate motion to have it vacated. It's not a big deal. BREATHE! It will probably cost about 10.00 for the copy.

There are a couple of ways to handle this.. either spend time and money fighting the judgement or spend your time and money filing the BK. If it were me, I would opt to get the BK going.. once you're under the court's protection, the creditor cannot collect from you or garnish wages or levy bank accounts. If you are pretty organized and have enough time on your hands for a 15 day period..and 209.00 (YOU CAN PAY IN INSTALLMENTS TOO!) .. you can do this tomorrow, if you want! You can file the first two pages- really easy- basic info.. and then take 15 days to file your schedules. Once those first two pages, also known as your petition, is filed- you are under the courts protection and an automatic stay is granted! You MUST however, have the rest of your schedules in by the required date or they will dismiss your case. PRONTO. And that's really, really bad. So, if you don't think you can fill out the schedules in 15 days.. get as much as you can done and then file the petition and finish up the schedules on time.

 

[mymymy]

BTW- How did you answer the court's summons when you first got it? What was your answer and how did you deliver it to the court and the creditors attorney?

 

[Ladynred]

I'll bet I can tell you what happened.
You filed your Answer.. and in doing so the court clerk scheduled a court date. BUT, when the judgment creditor got your Answer to the Complaint, they turned around and filed a MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT with the court. A this motion basically tells the judge that your Answer didn't contain anything that would keep them from being awarded a judgment, you made no arguments that would affect the outcome, and therefore they ask the judge to grant them a summary judgment in their favor. Apparently the judge did EXACTLY that.

If you go get a copy of the judgment case file, I will bet that that is what you will find.

As for the joint account, as long as your name is on that account, they CAN and WILL sieze it.

 

[JANICE2005]

Thank-you mymymy & ladynred for your help!

new jersey, I did file, the answer, in it I did say that I did owe the amount stated but that I had been unable to continue my payments. My husband took it, after making copies , to the court clerk and we mailed copies to the people who had filed the summons against me. we kept a copy, that was in june, then we recieved a postcard about a week later telling me my court date would be oct. 6,05. But today I recieved the paper from the court saying that the plaintiff had won the judgement against me. So your reply sounds very possible, ladynred, but Ive been offline since early this evening so I just got to read your replies & get a chance to reply. Also I was just getting all my papers ready to take to a lawyer tomorrow & in my stress & so many things going on at the same time for me in these past few months, I very stupidly laid mail in a place that I usually dont , and I just found among that mail an unopened envelope from the plaintiffs lawyers, I must have meant to get to it and totally forgot it was in there. Well its a lot of papers and it says that its something I needed to answer in writing and I feel really really dumb , but its about this motion that I just recieved in the mail that they won , because, now of course, I know that because I didnt respond to it in writing , they won. Im going to see a lawyer tomorrow, we have saved up enough to pay for the first half of the fees & I hope that everything will work out. Im glad I didnt attempt to do the paper work on my own, because there are too many other real difficulties right now that Im facing in my life, health problems, both myself & my husband, and my unopened mail is just proof that Id mess it up if I attempted to deal with it without a lawyer. thank-you very much for your much needed help & very appreciated too, janice

 

[mymymy]

Good Luck, Janice!

Please keep us tuned in as your case progresses. OK?

 

[JANICE2005]

Thank-you, mymymy ,

new jersey, I will, Im going to need all of you to help me through this, thank-you for being here for me, every time I even let myself think about all of this, I cry, I feel ashamed that I let myself get into this mess , and that I cant pay what I owe, but I cannot work & I guess I have to do this.Talk to you all again soon, thank-you, janice

 

[Ladynred]

Well, all they really needed to get the summary judgment was your admission that you owed the debt.. and you DID admit to it. I would guess that unopened mail is interrogatories and/or 'request for admissions', but it wouldn't really have mattered if you answered those, you admitted the debt to start with.

Good luck, and you're not alone in your situation, millions find them selves there every day.

 

[JANICE2005]

thank-you ladynred, & everyone, since they won the

nj, judgement is that part of my debt not able to be part of the bankruptcy ? and will they come to my home looking for assets and what would be considered a likely asset? thank-you, janice

 

[Ladynred]

Yes you can include the judgment in your bankruptcy.

No, they will not come to your home looking for assets.

Assets is anything you own.

 

[JANICE2005]

thank-you ladynred, I know that assets are

nj,things I own but I guess what I meant is what type of things, anything? Also jetx says ( that If you don't pay a judgment, the deputy(s) can knock on your door and make a demand for payment. If you refuse, they will simply start asking you LOTS of questions... do you own a television, car, bank account, etc. They can do pretty much anything..... as long as they do NOT breach the peace. ) I couldnt get an appt. to see the lawyer, that we have decided to go to, until monday at 4, so hopefully we will get started with the bankruptcy then.

 

[Ladynred]

EVERYTHING. However, IF the sheriff came to your home, he would be looking for NON_EXEMPT property that could be taken and sold at auction to satisfy the debt. Chances are you have NOTHING that doesn't fall within the exemptions, but if you are required to claim your exemptions you must do so.