Judgemenet against my husband that we never knew about.?

Question

I just found out by a site search that my husband has a judgment against him for $700.00 for rent and damages to teh apartment he rented for 3 months. He moved homes and jobs. We were never notified of this small claims hearing. Since he failed to show up in February 06, the judge granted his landlord the full amount. (one of the damages was the toilet not working, but it stopped working a month after living there and the landlord never fixed it, now he says that it was working fine, etc.) anyway, we never paid this or knew we had to pay this. What should we do? Are they going to come looking for their money?? The case is still open with the court.

PART TWO

I work for a law office but I hate to bring it up to them. Quite embarassing but you know. My husband and I didn't live together before we got married and this was his apartment alone before we got married. No one else lived with him. We had problems with this landlord after we signed the lease. Jeckle and Hyde.. nice before we sign and evil after we moved in. It's been 2.5 year since he moved out. We bought a house together, so apparently we bought it before the guy filed suit. We haven't checked his credit report since the house being bought. I know 700 isn't a lot compared to what some people owe but when rent was only 400.. I don't know how he came up with 700. We never got our deposit back because he didn't want one to begin with. Now I know why I guess.

Part Three

The house is just in my name. My husband had poor credit before he even rented the home. So the cars and the home is just in my name. He has nothing in his name whatsoever. The landlord never asked for a forwarding address or work. My husband had a month to month lease. Maybe if they taped it to his door, the landlord took it down so my husband wouldn't appear so he would win the case. My husband worked 5 nights 12 hour days. So he wasn't home a lot.

One more thing. On the court's site under the docket number for my husband. It said.. summons issued 2-07-05, summons served 2-09-05, then summons returned 2-10-07. Then the next entry is that my husband failed to show up and the judge granted the plantiff his money.

Answer 1

you need to be 'served' in order for them to win the judgment.

some states allow the 'server' to leave the documents at your front door or with one of the ppl who live there (like children)

judgments are FINAL...there will be no open court case.

700 is nothing.....i would quickly pay it or you wont be able to rent another apartment or buy a home till it's paid!

Answer 2

Either your dear hubby is not telling you the whole story about whether he was served with the papers, or he WASN'T wasn't properly served. There was only one day between when the summons was issued by the court clerk and when it was returned back to the court with proof of service. This is only possible if he was personally handed the paperwork within that time frame. In most states, the server must make 3 attemtps to personally serve the defendant, at different times or at both work and home, etc. (there has to really be a good-faith effort to get the papers to the defendant). If the papers are left with a "responsible party" at the residence or place of employment (called "substituted service"), then a copy must also be mailed to the defendant's last known address.... to make DOUBLE SURE he received the papers. Failing that, he would have to serve by publication in a newspaper ... over a period of time. Or, in some cases, he could petition the court to serve by being "posted" by the clerk (very rare). As you can see, one day is not nearly enough time for 3 attempts, substituted service by mail, service by publication, or posting by the clerk.

Pull the court file and get a copy of the summons and proof of service affidavit. See what the process server did. If it says he personally served your hubby on that date (which it almost HAS to say, given the fact that there is only one day in between the summons being issued and being returned back to the court), then one of 2 things occurred: either the information is erroneous, fraudulent, etc.; or you need to have a long talk with your other half about why he didn't respond to the suit in the first place, and pay the $700.

If the proof of service is wrong, look into filing a motion to set aside the default judgment ... for lack of proper service on the defendant.

Answer 3

I'm guessing you didn't give a forwarding address so that you could have received the court hearing information.

The case is also reported on your credit report and whenever you want credit this will always come up. At some point, you will have to pay this.

I would recommend that you talk directly with the landlord and see if he will take less then 700. If so, fix it now and close out the case. Make sure that your credit report shows it closed.

AND!!! get a paid, SIGNED receipt from the landord showing that it was paid. Pay the landlord by check and save this check. I would write on the back of the check the following. "All parties agree that by depositing this check, the matter of _______ (add court case number here) is closed and fully resolved". This way the landlord can't say that you only paid part. Also put this on the signed receipt.

Take care of this NOW. It will come back to hurt you.

Answer 4

If a process server is unable to locate the person to whom the court summons is issued, a notice may be placed in a public newspaper for a specified time, as a legitimate means of summons to the courts.

I would not be surprised if this is what occurred, if your husband was not found in order to be served the summons. Naturally, if your husband did not appear before the court, the landlord will win the judgment by default.

You are best off to make arrangements to pay the $700 at this point. Any attempt to get this judgment reversed will cost you FAR more than that, since it will require the services of an attorney, courts costs, ad nauseam.

Answer 5

The landlord who filed the small claim must notify you by certified mail or by a Process Server. Law states it's your right to know when you are being sued. Call the County Clerk's office where the summons was filed and find out your options from them. You may be able to re-open the case. FYI 86% of judgments never get paid. Eventually, when the landlord figures you will never pay.. he might try to enforce the judgment via a Judgment Recovery Company or Collection agency that may try to scare you but really can't do anything. If you own a home..they can put a lien on it. As more time passes the judgment holder will settle for a lot less than the original judgment. Figure in a year, the'll settle for $250.
However, Call the Clerk's Office and explain you were not served properly and want to re-open the suit and counter sue you ex-landlord's ***!! Sue your ex-landlord for damages!!! Did landlord know your forwarding address or how to contact you? Also, you can look up how many times ex-landord filed claims against tennants.. he might make this a second carrer since he knows the process of the court system.

Ooops, I just read part two. You may already have a lein on your home. I don't know the statue of limitations of your state. Try to sue landlord if you have proof or re-open case. If no success, see if you have a lien on your home and who placed it (attorney office or landlord) and make an offer to satisfy judgment... Make sure you get a "Satifaction of Judgment" if you reach a settlement. Or just sit tight and wait until your ready to sell your home. When they do a title search it will come up and deal with it then. The more you wait the less you pay...

Part Three... Were you still living there the time it was servred? How was it served "method of serveice"? Who served it (Sheriff Dept or Certified Process server)? You can find that out by going to courthouse or clerk's office and pulling the file. The server must list how they Served the Process...Peronally Served, Left on Door, Substituted Service with landlord etc.. If they just left on door it may be considered bad service and the case may be thrown out. What county or state are you from?.. look up statutes.. Here's why... Process servers should make at least 3 attempts to contact someone at the residence before summons is posted. Sounds like server made 1 trip to serve because he returned the "affidavit of service" the next day. Could be considered bad service and landlord would have to re-sue you. He'd have to re-file a claim and pay court costs again.

They can't put a lien on you if everything is in your name. Also, If your partner ever claimed or files for bankruptcy (last resort) during the judgment period (not before) any judgments must stop immediatley and any further enforcement of that judgment by an attorney's office or collection agency will result in disciplinary against them and they can be sued. 7 years he can start fresh with credit.
You can walk into clerk's office and do this yourself since this is all public records. Go to your local library and get a small claims for dummies book or something specific to your state. Do this yourself.... don't pay an attorney .. if the amount was more substantial .. I would recommend representaion but it's only $700. Prob worth only a couple of hundred by now if you have to settle

Answer 6

This common with landlords (once you move they try to take you to court for "damages") Did you fill out a checklist for the landlord when you moved? Some ask for this some dont.

Anyway you can contact the court and make payment arrangements . Its civil court so they can do that. I am surprised you didnt find it on a credit report. You may wish to check that- usually it gets sent to the credit reporting agencies.

Answer 7

If you want to get rid of it, pay the judgment. It won't go away. The case is open, because the judgment has not been answered. The plaintiff can renew the judgment every 10 years as long as they wish, and if you should die with that judgment still open, 70 years from now, the money awarded to them would be taken out of your estate. Just pay it.

Answer 8

Did the landlord return any part of the security deposit or contact you about same? Each state has it's own limits on how and when a landlord has to contact you about your deposit. If your husband can show he was never contacted about the deposit and never received any of it back, he could easily contest the ruling.

See:
http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/objectID/491C49DA-D208-4876-BEA5092CCB39FE1D/213/178/117/ART/

Answer 9

Its only $700, just pay it to get the thing off your minds and outta your life. But ya may wanna look into it first.

Answer 10

I would get ahold of the court, and explain that you didn't have any idea this was going on, and you want to take him back to court, or what needs to be done, they will let you know.