Summons and Default Judgement Without Service of Process

[help me 5]

My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: california

my wife and i started having problems in 2001. we had our house refinanced and she paid off all but one of her credit cards. we planned on refinancing again (after a "cooling off period" as recommended by our mortgage broker) to pay off all of my credit cards. a very common practice early in the decade. during the 2nd refi, i signed away the house to her so we could get a great rate (she was debt free) after all was done, she did not pay any of my cards and worse, gave all the money to her family overseas. she threatened me with divorce all the time. i ended up filing for divorce in 2004. (which ended up very bad for me)

to my point...i was getting legal notices all the time from her lawyer, my lawyer, the court etc. i answered and responded to all of them, i had to. it was during this time that a debt collector (cacv of colorado) allegedly served me. as i no longer lived at that address (and the vindictive woman who lived there was looking out to screw me at every turn) i was never served, and never informed of the service. about a month ago, i found a letter (2 years old now). it was from a "ventures" company in sacramento....it was a sheriff's notice to levy bank accounts. (they got nothing)

as i was never served, and going through a nasty divorce, always answered my legal notices, wife out to screw me...what would i have to do to be able to prove to the court that this default should be vacated for improper service or failure of service, and since it is well beyond the 4 year SOL, should it be dismissed without much fanfare?

can anyone help me out on this one? i have read many of posts here and many other places..none seem to fit, but i am sure it has happened to a lot of people. thanks

[Mr. Knowitall]

If we're talking about a California judgment and the default judgment is more than two years old, it's too late to challenge it for non-service (assuming that would have been a viable defense). You can again raise the issue at the time of any effort to renew the judgment, should it remain uncollected and should the judgment creditor decide to attempt renewal.

[help me 5]

yes, what you state is true. it is california and over 2 years (march 2005) they have not received any monies, inspite of their efforts.

and, does 10 year start from the day of default judgement, or what ever date they felt like saying it was (originally went in 2003 according to the court's website?

when they re-new, do they have to notify me? or do i just wait the 10-year time-frame and see if there was any action on my case via the court website?

[AZDeputyClerk]

You'd want to check the California Rules of Civil Procedure to calculate the time. In my state, the time starts on the date of the default judgment entry. As for monitoring the case for actions, the best way is by physical inspection of the file as the digital file may sometimes be incomplete.