Sued in TX over eviction in '04. Served w/ papers but had moved out of state. Legal? Any ideas?

Question

Hey all. I was illegally evicted by the renters girlfriend in 04 *while he was deployed, give 5 days notice instead of 30* The other roommate and I got an apartment more than two weeks before the eviction was filed to the court. I just found out I had been sued this past month when I checked my credit.
I was in Alaska for over a week at the time I was "served" *the papers were taped to the door of the place we were told to leave and never return* after two weeks after we left, legal in TX

MY QUESTION IS, is anyone aware if the judgement is legal bcs I was:
1.) Out of the state, working, when I was served
2.) Out of the state on the court date
3.) An Alaska resident, not Texan at any point.

I called the JP and they said that I would have to seek an attorney's advice- I just finished college and am strapped for cash. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas/insight- anything would be appreciated as the judgment is over 1500+ court fees for both my roommate and I.
THANK YOU!!!

Answer 1

Ideas for you- It sounds like a judgment was entered against you by default. That is you were supposedly served, there for you should have come to court to defend yourself. I would contact the court, or request copies of documents, especially that proof of service. In CA, you cannot serve someone by tacking it on a door. The reason for that is anyone could have taken them, or someone can lie about doing it, anything. The court does not want to have a judgment entered against you without having the opportunity to defend yourself against someone making claims. Find out what the laws in Texas are regarding proper service.

Maybe you won't have to come back, but a plaintiff file suit in the jurisdiction in which they live, even if the defendant resides outside of the jurisdiction. But that is the case anyway, right. This is an old judgment coming to the service.

My first point would be to find out how to have that proof of service invalid, and if that happens, the judgment shouldn't stand. Since that sounds like a small claims matter, talk to a small claims advisor. Most courts provide them at no charge. Call the court in TX that entered the judgment.

Answer 2

The eviction is legal. It is what is called a default judgement, though. In many states, the eviction process has been made easier for the landlords by allowing the service to be by posting a copy of the eviction on the door of the residence. Thisis because many people will not open the door for process servers and accept service from them. The thing you can do is for you to have a lawyer file a motion to set aside the original default judgement, as you have a good case that you were unaware of the court proceeding against you. Then you would have to appear in court again. you may have a legal aide attorney to help you file pro se, or in texas, you may even be allowed to file the motion yourself and represent yourself, if so you will only have to pay filing fees. You may have to jump through some hoops, but the end result you may win.

Answer 3

I've been an attorney since 1993. Many states allow service by posting in eviction lawsuits, but I do not know the exact law in Texas on this subject. Here in California, you must get a court order to allow service by posting.

Your problem is that the plaintiff was able to convince the court that service was proper. Until you file a motion to set the judgment aside, it is a valid judgment and will remain on your credit rating. It is up to you to take the proper legal action to convince a judge to vacate the judgment. Unfortunately, your legal fees are likely to be as much as the judgment itself. You might be able to negotiate a settlement with the plaintiff that would result in a satisfaction of the judgment. At least then, it could be removed from your credit rating.

Answer 4

a couple of things and they are your fault. the original notice was not valid because it was less than 30 days. the service might be illegal because you were out of state but you have to come to Texas and serve them to argue it. but you ain't got no money anyway and they can't collect. so smarten up!!! sent a letter to the credit bureaus that you dispute the validity of the judgment... state that by law the must remove it.......in 3 weeks see if it has been removed. if so check again to see if it is back on. if not it has been removed forever. is it 1500 each or 1500 total? just pay it off and next time you won't nearly be so stupid!!!

Answer 5

In MO you have to have the papers physically handed to someone for them to be considered served....otherwise, there is no case and it's dropped or attempt for reserving is made.

see if you can look up that county's records online and see what they have as the outcome of the case. If that doesn't work, call the circuit court and see if they can get a copy of the judgment for you.

You should also be able to search the landlord tenant laws of the state on line as well. govspot.com.

if it is not a court judgment, you can get it taken off your credit report, as the burden has to proven by the creditor. You don't need a court to award judgment for it to be reported to the credit bureau.

good luck!

Answer 6

Posting notice on the door was legal process service; however, since you did not live at that address, I think you have a good basis to get this judgment dismissed. Try your local Legal Aide office. They don't charge much for advice. Best thing is to hire an attorney, but is expensive, for sure.

Answer 7

There must be unlawful harm finished to united statesa.. to question somebody in basic terms because of the fact the President isn't cherished isn't sufficient .a lot of people concept that President Bush Jr. would desire to have been impeached. He left our united states Deeply in dept, and a great form of, many young little ones have lost their lives contained in the conflict in Iraq. they're nonetheless death. i think of that Democrats and Republicans would desire to artwork jointly as a replace of being so divided. I examine a great form of hateful, letters to the Editor in our interior sight newspaper approximately President Obama and that i concern for his existence to be frank. He hasn't even been in workplace for 8 months yet. people have been criticizing him in basic terms 2 weeks after he took workplace!! He potential properly. we would desire to furnish him of project and pray for training for him. I did this tremendously much on a standard basis for President Bush and that i'm for President Obama.

Answer 8

just dispute the judgement through the credit bureaus i.e. transunion, equifax, experian. Most probably they will have the judgement removed from the credit report.