Answer

Thanks for your clarification. Pronouns are not friends in writing on these boards since pronouns tend to muddle the facts.

I'm afraid that what I have to say is not what you want to hear. I'm sorry about that.

An award by an arbitrator is filed with the court and, at the time of filing with the court, the arbitration award has the full force and effect of a judgment of that court unless there is some reason for challenging it. The time limit (statute of limitations) is short on these challenges, so challenge soon if you're going to do so at all.

You might have grounds for challenging the arbitration judgment based on failure to serve you with notice if you never got any notices at all, but, unless there is credit card fraud involved here, I'm wondering what point there would be in putting everyone through the exercise (and angering the judge who oversees the arbitration immeasurably, to boot; judges don't like things like this to show up on their already overcrowded dockets). The collection agency has the documentation of the charges made on the card and would therefore be able easily to prove their case even with you there; money judgments don't take into account sad tales of why the money got spent; the creditor is owed the money that got charged to the card and no one cares what the charges paid for. Credit card charges are made on signature; all the creditor would have to do is ask you under oath, "Is this your signature on all these charge slips?" (they would actually go through them one by one with you, while the judge sits on the bench and drums his fingers thinking about the far more interesting trial he has coming up tomorrow and being pissed that he can't be in chambers at that moment preparing for it). You would have to answer Yes if the signature is yours, and the creditor's case is won.

Of course, if there is credit card fraud is involved, then the creditor won't have your signature on credit card slips and you may be able to get the judgment annulled since you never charged the goods/services.

Your motion to vacate the arbitration judgment would go to the court where the judgment will be filed, which is probably the highest trial court of general jurisdiction in your county.

The creditor will likely argue that never updated your address with the original creditor or with the collections agency so they mailed to the last known address. Depending on the arbitration rules in your state, they just might win that argument.

The collections agency is indeed likely to follow through and enforce a judgment in their favor. They can do this through attaching any real property you own, by garnishing your wages through your employer, by laying claim to your tax refund (if any), or by collecting from you through any other legal means. It can get pretty nasty.

There are three ways to prevent this creditor from successfully enforcing their judgment:

1. Negotiate a partial lump-sum payment that they will accept in full satisfaction of the judgment, and demand a release of the judgment upon payment of that lump sum; or

2. Negotiate a payment over time schedule with them wherein you agree to voluntarily pay them a certain sum every month until the judgment, with post-judgment interest (usually 9%/year) is paid off; or

3. File for bankruptcy protection and get the underlying debt discharged. Bankruptcy has the DISadvantage of sticking with you for ten years after discharge in the form of a note on your credit report, but it will remove any possibility of the judgment being actually enforced against you personally. You might even make a motion to have the judgment lifted as part of the bankruptcy case. DO NOT ATTEMPT A BANKRUPTCY PETITION ON YOUR OWN!!!!!!!!!! What was, before the law changed in 2005, something that an intelligent layperson could handle on his or her own has changed with that new law into a complete quagmire, just waiting for the unwary debtor to shoot him/herself in the foot in such a way that the case can be dismissed in such a way that it can never be re-opened.

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Expert:	Nancy Delain
Pos. Feedback:	92.3 %
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Answered:	3/7/2009

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Registered Patent Attorney (1/2005); Attorney at Law (1/2004); M.S., Tech Writing (5/1981)