Legal/Judgment Question

[david_weaver]

A female friend has a paid judgment. She plans to file a motion to vacate. The judgment is in her married name. She is divorced and legally changed her name back to her maiden name.

 

The Motion to Vacate reads:

 

Comes now____________, Defendant, who respectfully requests this court to vacate the judgment against Defendant ____________, filed 08/2009...

 

Would she put her current/maiden name in the first line (as that is the legal name of the person making the motion), and her married name in the second line (as that is the name on the judgment)?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[tammylj]

My judgment was in my maiden name. My lawyer used "Tammy <married surname>, formerly known as Tammy <maiden surname>" on the motion to vacate.

Edited October 4, 2014 by tammylj

[Why Chat]

Are you SURE that this is a recorded judgment??

 

If she paid the entity that sued her, a release of the judgment should have been filed.

 

How is it reporting??

 

Try this:

 

http://www.whychat.5u.com/GUIDEBOOK.html

 

http://www.whychat.5u.com/deletejudg.html

[david_weaver]

Tammy,

Thanks for the response. And you are correct. When no one answered the question initially, I emailed the Clerk of Court's office for the county of the judgment.

 

WhyChat,

Yes, this is reporting as a satisfied judgment. It was a medical bill. Ironically, it was for her ex-husband (who was her current husband at that time). She worked. He was a bum. He got injured and had to go to the emergency room. He was on her insurance. There ended up being nearly $2500 billed that was not covered by insurance. The hospital sued her. He signed for paperwork when she got served. Default judgment was entered. In 2012, they were going to garnish her wages, so she paid the $2500, and the judgment was marked satisfied. Now, she wants it off her reports completely. We have not filed the motion yet, so if there is a better way to handle this than what we planned, please advise.

[johnnychampion]

First off, was she a listed as a "Defendant" on the Judgment? Most states allow a judgment creditor to garnish the wages of a spouse, even if that spouse if not listed as a Defendant. I guess since it was her insurance, she was liable for the charges too.

Second, a "Motion to vacate Judgment" is a request to contest the Judgment. In most states you only have 30 days to reply after notice of the Judgment being entered. If the Judgment has already been satisfied, most likely that's what it is. You should check the state statutes first, if it hasn't been already been checked.

Edited October 11, 2014 by johnnychampion

[david_weaver]

Yes, she was the defendant on the Judgment.

 

I was in contact several times with the Clerk of Court in the County as I prepared the Motion. Yes, there may be issues with such motions being time-barred, or as you mention, perhaps satisfied means it it what it is and nothing will change until it drops off in time.

 

All that said, for the $50 filing fee, it is worth a chance.

 

I will post an update once I hear something.

[Emtmedic44]

If everyone agrees, the judgement can be vacated no matter the time limits. Just went through this process a few months ago. My attorney drafted a petition, sent it to the CA's attorney who then signed in agreement and then it was filed at the courthouse. 1 week later the judge signed it and that was a done deal. It wasn't nearly as smooth as it sounds, but it can be done. In the end it cost me about $2000 to make it go away, not including the amount of the judgement. Good luck!

 

My judgement journey if you're interested-

 

 

http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=523221&page=2