Do Not Vacate Judgments For The Judgment Debtor
In my job, I talk with many judgment enforcers
. Not long ago some told me about a blog post they saw, about vacating a judgment as a judgment enforcement tactic; and wanted my opinion. The blog post promoted the flawed idea of proposing to assist in vacating a judgment, to get a judgment paid quickly.
This article covers the reason that vacating a judgment to get it paid, isn't smart. My articles are my opinions, and not legal advice. I am a judgment broker, and not an attorney. When you ever want a strategy to use or legal advice, you should contact an attorney.
What does it mean to vacate a judgment? Vacating a judgment is if the court sets aside, or voids their earlier order to create a judgment. A court creates a "Nunc Pro Tunc" (now for then) decision to make the previous judgment disappear. When a judgment is vacated, that means it is like the judgment did not exist.
While it is possible that a judgment creditor could bring a motion to vacate the judgment. However, it's almost always a judgment debtor who starts a motion to vacate. The laws and rules about vacating a judgment varies by state and court. There are time restrictions, and courts require logical reasons to vacate judgments. The most popular valid reasons a judgment get vacated are:
1) Defective proof of service. That only works on judgments by default, when a debtor claims they weren't properly served, notice of the lawsuit.
2) Mistake. If the debtor misunderstands reality. This is not easy to prove, because negligence in researching the law or ignorance of the law, is not an excusable mistake.
3) Surprise. If a party is placed in an injurious legal situation, through no negligence or fault of their own. That's very rare.
4) Excusable neglect or inadvertence. Reasons such as illness, relying on a flaky attorney, or if a court officer makes a serious mistake.
5) Voidable judgments. This is very rare, these are based on a lack of jurisdiction, fraud on the court, mistakes by the court, etc.
Judgments do not get vacated for frivolous reasons, including the wishes or convenience of the parties, or merely to settle a judgment.
The silly strategy promoted on a judgment-related blog is in a nutshell, that vacating judgments is a motivation for a judgment debtor to pay you. "You suggest to the debtor if they pay you, a motion to vacate their judgment can be filed at the court."
The motivation for a debtor with this flawed tactic, is that judgment debtors wish to have judgments off their credit reports. "No judgment on their credit report is better than a satisfied judgment on their credit report. Judgment owners and judgment enforcers can make a deal to cooperate in vacating the judgment, in exchange for getting paid."
There are four reasons why partnering to vacate a judgment as an incentive for a judgment debtor to pay a judgment, is a bad idea for a judgment enforcer especially, and also for original judgment creditors:
1) Judgment recovery specialists are the assignees of record, with no relation or standing in any circumstances that was related to the judgment.
2) Vacating judgments requires the proof of service to get filed and a court hearing. Judgment satisfaction requires neither of those. The court will not appreciate any trivial reasons to vacate a judgment, and may ask why the parties are wasting the court's time, when satisfying a judgment is the right way to settle and close a court case file. Imagine if a judge hears the debtor paid the judgment creditor and they cooperated to vacate the judgment instead of satisfying the judgment.
3) There are firm requirements and time limits on causes of action to vacate a judgment. This means there is just a slim chance of this strategy even being possible.
4) An assignee of record, cooperating and recommending to vacate judgments is probably bad policy, that could cause negative attention from government regulators, judges, etc.
The opportunity and reasons to vacate judgments is limited, and vacating a judgment is a serious matter; and shouldn't be used a bargaining tool.
by: Mark Shapiro
Some Simple Tips That Can Help You In Your Landscaping Project Learn How To Build A Raised Garden Bed Acai Berry: Details On Side Effects Blogging Writers Are Currently Being Hyped Within The Usa, Not Just Western World How To Choose The Right Lawyer The Many Benefits Of Acupuncture Exactement Pourquoi Nos Jeunes Se Doivent De Sunshine Moins Difficile Air Filter For Parrots----5 Things To Know Before Deciding Lithium Batteries Tips To Make Your Laptop Lasts Longer Want To Live Happily Ever After? Stop Smoking! Does Smoking Damage The Heart? 5 Reason Why You Need To Stop Smoking Tantalum Ore Processing Plant Zenith Corporation