Default Judgement from a Different State

[ithr]

My question involves small claims court in the state of: Oregon.

I recently found out about a default judgment against me in Oregon from 2006. I have lived in California since 2004. The collections company did not show up to the motion to vacate. I provided proof that the company served a business address that was listed as dissolved 1 year prior to service. The judge set aside the judgment. He said he was going to have paperwork sent to attended mediation with the Plaintiff.

They have filed a sister-state judgment against me. I have not yet been served on this. Can I wait until they serve me to respond? I ask because it is pretty expensive to file an out of state motion to vacate. Can they attempt to garnish wages or take funds from my bank without serving me?

Credit card debit has a statue of limitation in Oregon of 7 years. Would the court be looking at the case as if they were reviewing it in 2006? Or could I argue the SOL is up? The only information the collection company would give me is the debt was 6+ years old when they filed it. They refuse to supply me with any other information.

6 years prior when they said the credit card is from I lived in a different county in the same state. I can I argue that this court doesn't have jurisdiction? I’m not sure I have any paperwork to show where I lived then, it would be over 10 years ago.

Can I subpoena records prior to mediation? If so is that something I would need to get authorized by the court and do they typically charge for it? Do I need to fill out a specific form or can I just write a letter and mail a request? Or should I wait till mediation to request a copy? I would be doing the mediation over the phone.

[Mr. Knowitall]

They have filed a sister-state judgment against me. I have not yet been served on this.

They're trying to enforce through the California courts the Oregon judgment that was just vacated?

Can I wait until they serve me to respond? I ask because it is pretty expensive to file an out of state motion to vacate.

Back up and explain what was filed, where, and for what purpose? Normally there's no charge in filing an answer to a petition, and motion fees are usually quite low.

Can they attempt to garnish wages or take funds from my bank without serving me?

Was the money judgment set aside or not? If it was set aside, how would they get an order of garnishment?

Give us a clear set of facts here.

[KeyWestDan]

How would they know where you bank or anything else, in order to collect a judgment?

They have to file the foreign judgment with the county clerk of the county where you live. They have to serve you. They will also likely order you to a deposition along with all your financial records. You could then refuse on the grounds that they don't have a judgment anymore, it has been set aside or vacated, or whatever language the court used.


And why the frack was it ordered to mediation? If the complaint and summons was not properly served in the first place, the court has no personal jurisdiction. The case can't simply continue. It has to be dismissed. A lack of proper service is a fatal flaw, nothing overcomes it. The plaintiff can then refile and serve you properly, but as you don't even live in the state, they can not sue you where they did previously. They have to come to your state.

Besides getting the judgment vacated you needed to file the proper motion to have the case dismissed. You can raise the issue of a lack of jurisdiction at any time.

See, when you don't even know the questions to ask, you really shouldn't be trying to do this yourself. You really should get an attorney. Or be a quick study of law and civil procedure.

The court has no jurisdiction to order this to mediation or do anything else. You need to file a motion to dismiss.

[ithr]

The judgment was just set aside, the collection company did not show up to the court date. The court scheduled another court date for mediation. They knew I was going to file a motion to vacate, so they filed the sister judgement prior to the court date.

They hired a law office here in California and they have been sending me threatening letters saying they will garnish my wages.

I called they court here in California and they said it would cost me $330 just to file the motion to vacate.

I still have no idea what this is for and if it's even mine. Can I request copies of any contracts prior to mediation?