Back in 2000 I used an attorney to get a divorce, my attorney in 2002 put a judgment on my credit...?

Question

I have been trying for a week to talk to him about taking a settlement, but he wont. So just to get this off my credit, I asked him if I could come in and pay and he refuses to give me a total, saying there is interest and court costs. I do not feel I owe this because he didnt even do my case and I paid all my filing fees, but I am willing to pay it to clean my credit. Anyways, he is refusing to give me a call back or tell me the final $$ amount and I am at wits end with him. Can anyone advise me?

I just wanted to add, there is a $$ total on my credit, I tried to pay the court which it is filed with but I was told they do not accept payments for that I would have to pay the attorney direct. He works in his office alone, no other attorney, he never even filed my Child Support Order!!!! So I am fighting that with another attorney as well. Aaaagh!!!

Answer 1

{EDIT} If you retained Attorney A for a Child Support Matter and he never filed the case with the court, you immediately have grounds to file a complaint with your state's attorney discipline board. In your complaint, state that not only Attorney A did nothing for you but he even obtained a judgment against you for a fee given that the services were not rendered. You are not able to dispute the judgment with the credit unions; only a court order will compel the credit unions to remove the judgment. This process will take some time but if Attorney B is not helping you with either the child support or judgment matters, file another complaint against that attorney as well. Many attorneys are upright citizens but dealing with questionable ones unfortunately makes the profession look bad. {/EDIT}

Sounds like this attorney obtained a judgment ex parte without serving notice to the other party unless there are facts excluded from the question, like receiving notice of the law suit, subsequent hearings, etc., then the attorney's actions were justified.

I was in a similar situation when I signed my retainer agreement that I would be charged $1,500 after my case was disposed. I told my attorney that I could not make timely payments; he understood. I sent him $100 a month when I could and he gave me a balance statement until I paid him in full.

I would see if the judgment can be vacated if this attorney obtained it ex parte. Next, I would file a complaint with your state's attorney grievance (or discipline) board as long as you were notified of all legal proceedings.

Answer 2

I forgot what its called. But do this first.

Send him a certified letter with return receipt asking for a full accounting of your bill, cc a copy of that letter to the the Utah State Bar Association. Ask him to respond in 30 days. You dont need to spend the money for cerfified to the Bar. He will just know that they have it too.

Write in your letter about the frustrations he has given you about not telling him what you owe him, and his refusal to tell you. He will hate this going to the bar and will figure it out very quickly.

If not (which you hope he doesnt) Take that letter (with your certified copy that it was delivered and signed for) and go to your creditors and have it just removed from your credit.

Trans Union
866.887.2673
www.transunion.com

Experian
888.397.3742
www.experian.com

Equifax
800.685.1111
www.equifax.com

If this doesnt work, which it should, call the clerks office and I dont remember the form. You file it and he has to go infront of a judge to explain why he put a judgement on you and tell the judge the fees. Another thing he will hate. The clerks office will know.

This process from start to finish might take you a couple of months but will only cost you time and maybe 4 bucks to send the letter to the attorney. Disputing the credit agencies are free. If you have to file to the court that might cost you 30-50 bucks.

Good Luck.

Email me down the road if you have any further questions.

Answer 3

There are two ways to go about this:
1. The credit report should list an amount. Send a check for that amount that clearly shows payment in full in the comments section of the check.
2. Submit a challenge to the credit bureau when the account is listed. In order to substantiate the debt he would have to provide an exact amount.

If it is an actual judgment and not just a report, the court would have a copy of the judgment. If this is the case, pay it off via the court.

Answer 4

You need to write a certified letter asking for a total amount, with a detail billing with each charge listed with the work he did for that charge and ask for a reply within a certain time frame (a week or two). If no work was done for that charge, you can dispute this charge with the credit bureau, (maybe have your receipts for the costs of filing with your court included) Include copies of the registered letter along with his reply to the credit bureau. You have a right to know the amount of your bill, plus exactly what work was done for each charge. If this does not work, you may be able to call the state bar association for attorney's in your area for more info. Take notes of the times you call his office, use your cell phone so you can have a record of it. This helps if you have to defend yourself in court also. Make sure you make notes of times, dates, calls, letters.

Answer 5

If he did not do the case was it some one else in his firm? cause you can talk to one layer but they will have some one else do all the work and you still pay the big guy.(this is how my dads lawsuit was ruined a new lawyer went in and signed forms that they would not bring in evidence witnesses so my dad got screwed. and no other lawyer would sue his lawyer) But if no one from his firm worked your case and you did it all then no something does not sound right. you may have to contact another lawyer to see if you should even pay anything and if your not and he did put a judgment on your credit then you might have a lawsuit against him for that. Someone can only put a judgment on you if you do owe them money. I might be able to help you more if i had more info.

Answer 6

You need to contact your local bar association.

I know in California and I believe it to be true in most states that you can force him to submit to fee arbitration. He will then have to give you an itemized bill and have to justify any and all fees. You will be able to dispute any fees. Again, he must submit to fee arbitration.

You will probably need to be represented, and definitely should consult with a legal malpractice attorney to be appraised of what your rights are and what the procedure is in your locality.

The good news is that its easy to find a good attorney that enjoys filing against another attorney.

Answer 7

call the State Bar Association and file a complaint, if this 2002 Lawyer did not preform any service for you he will be dis bared and may even lose his license to practice law in that State.
He also can not ruin your credit, you simply send the credit agency a letter and state your side. They will record your objection on your credit report.

Answer 8

It really depends on your state. You could file against him in small claims court and sue him for failure to deliver his obligated legal help during your divorce. You would need back up so start documenting everything you have. Then sue him for 2 or 3 grand and see what happens.

Answer 9

You need to file a compliant against him through the Bar Association, Send copies of all evidence, you can even call them, have them to send you a form to fill out. Makes me wonder what he is hiding, from what you said.

Answer 10

If he "put a judgment," there should be a total there. Is it a judgment for unspecified amount? Hard to believe.