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I am in receipt of letter from law firm advising me I have a judgement against me in the county I live in. I was never served any papers to appear. How can a judgement be made without my being able to defend myself. This debt is credit card and over three years old.
Optional Information: Country relating to Question: United States State (if USA): Virginia Already Tried: nothing..
There are a couple of ways it could happen, one legit and one not.The legit was is that if they tried to serve you and couldn't find you then they could ask the court to let them do alternative or substituted service. This can be done in a number of ways but the most common is by publishing notice in the newspaper.The second, and more common way particularly if you have lived at the same address for a while, is to just lie to the court and state that they served you when they didn't. Also, sometimes they serve someone with the same name even though it is not you. Of course, this is not legitimate and you should be able to file to get that judgment overturned and possibly even get them sanctioned.You can try and handle it yourself but you would greatly increase your chances of success if you hire an attorney because they will have to go back and try to recreate what happened and then address it with the courts when trying to get the judgment vacated. It may even be possible to get the judgment vacated, get your attorney's fees, and prevent them from refiling the case.If you would like any additional information or have more questions please don’t hesitate to ask but please do so my clicking on the Reply to Expert tab.We work for Positive Ratings, please click on one of the top three ratings or one of the Smile Faces, as this would be appreciated. We have recently implemented a new rating and feedback system. Please be aware that you are rating my courtesy and service as a professional, and not necessarily whether you like the information that you are receiving. Please bear in mind I can’t control what the law is and whether it helps you, I can only tell you what it says, and I assume you want truthful information.PLEASE DO NOT use the rating system to ask for more information or in an attempt to tell the website that you didn’t like the substance of the answer as it gives a NEGATIVE rating to me personally if your rating is one of the lower two.I believe in giving information that is to the point, but please remember that I can only base our answers on the information you provide and sometimes a misunderstanding as to what you are looking for or already know occurs so feel free to ask additional questions or for clarifications. Be very careful about looking at other internet sites that just post generic information without any inquiry into your facts because often those answers are dated, wrong, or wrong as applied to your facts. Please be aware that my answer is not legal advice, it is merely information. You should always contact a local attorney for legal advice.Several customers have asked how they direct a question to me in particular. If you specifically want me to provide information for you just put “FOR JD 1992” in the subject line and I will pick up the next time I am online.
Experience: Began practicing law in 1992
Do I understand that I should have been served by the law firm either by registered.\return reciept mail or a process server approved by court.
What does it mean that they could not serve me, it is my personal home.
Yes, you should have been served in one of those two manners.Some people refuse to answer the door when someone tries to serve them, others no longer live at the address, etc. Anything like that could allow them to request substituted service. However, it is rare that this happens, usually they just didn't serve the person or served the wrong person, particularly in credit card debt cases.If you would like any additional information or have more questions please don’t hesitate to ask but please do so my clicking on the Reply to Expert tab.We work for Positive Ratings, please click on one of the top three ratings or one of the Smile Faces, as this would be appreciated. We have recently implemented a new rating and feedback system. Please be aware that you are rating my courtesy and service as a professional, and not necessarily whether you like the information that you are receiving. Please bear in mind I can’t control what the law is and whether it helps you, I can only tell you what it says, and I assume you want truthful information.PLEASE DO NOT use the rating system to ask for more information or in an attempt to tell the website that you didn’t like the substance of the answer as it gives a NEGATIVE rating to me personally if your rating is one of the lower two.I believe in giving information that is to the point, but please remember that I can only base our answers on the information you provide and sometimes a misunderstanding as to what you are looking for or already know occurs so feel free to ask additional questions or for clarifications. Be very careful about looking at other internet sites that just post generic information without any inquiry into your facts because often those answers are dated, wrong, or wrong as applied to your facts. Please be aware that my answer is not legal advice, it is merely information. You should always contact a local attorney for legal advice.Several customers have asked how they direct a question to me in particular. If you specifically want me to provide information for you just put “FOR JD 1992” in the subject line and I will pick up the next time I am online.