.... that the Defendant has within 20 days in which to respond to the "complaint". The Defendant has requested, from the Judge an "Enlargement of Time"; an additional 15 days in which to answer. To my knowledge- from the court records "docket" the Judge has not granted nor denied this request for an enlargement of time. Its been 20 days plus an additional 17 days and I still have not received an answer to the "complaint". Am I entitled to a Default Judgment? I'm pro se and can't afford to hire a lawyer...
2006-06-11 07:05:46 · 3 answers · asked by ••Mott•• 6 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
No, your case will now go to cival court. This time period was to establish an answer by the defendant. No answer, the defendant will now be issued a date and time for appearance. You should be receiving a notice as to your case date within 30 days. Now if the defendant does not show up for the actual case, they will probably give them one more chance to reply. If on the second appearance they do not show up, you may win the judgement by default. This why it takes a long time to settle cival matters. Also, ust because you win a judgement, don't plan on collecting. Most judgements are never collected and the party receiving the judgement usually has to place a "lien" on the defendants property to force them to pay up. The defendant them moves to another county or state and you are back to square one. Good luck!
2006-06-11 07:11:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The defendant will be given other chances, probably. You should go to a law library to check local law -- Beyond that, even if the defendant is not allowed to answer, you will have to go through a procedure to prove you have damages and what they are, before you can get a judgment.
And, as the previous poster indicated, winning the judgment is half the battle at best. It can be a long and costly and often futile process attempting to collect on a judgment.
2006-06-11 07:36:41 · answer #2 · answered by C_Bar 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Send in your request for a default judgment. The worst that happens is the clerk sends it back, the best is that it gets entered.
I don't know Florida procedure so I can't advise as to exactly which forms to use or what to call them, but I've always gone by the motto that if you don't ask, they can't say yes.
2006-06-20 20:30:00 · answer #3 · answered by shoshidad 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋