| I am not a lawyer. This is my opinion and a | | | | judgment is to ask the court to vacate (cancel) |
| summary of what I have learned and observed. | | | | the judgment. |
| If you need legal advice, contact a lawyer. | | | | If they succeed on a motion to vacate, you lose |
| To start a lawsuit, legal papers (called the | | | | the judgment, and have to start over with a new |
| complaint) must first be served on the defendant. | | | | trial. The most important issue a judge considers |
| The defendant becomes a debtor when a judge | | | | on a motion to vacate, is the proof of service. |
| signs an order creating a civil judgment. | | | | The best proof of service is when a Sheriff or a |
| If the defendant does not provide an answer | | | | registered process server personally serves the |
| within a certain period of time, and/or does not | | | | defendant, or serves the correct person at a |
| show up on the date of the court hearing, the | | | | company. With valid personal service, attempts to |
| defendant becomes a debtor, and a default | | | | have the court vacate the judgment almost |
| Judgment results. | | | | never succeed. |
| A default means you won your lawsuit. In many | | | | Note the debtor can play other games, including |
| ways, this is good news - the judge ruled in your | | | | filing an answer (e.g.) one day after the deadline, |
| favor, there were no delays, no extra expenses, | | | | and later try to add that to their (alleged) reasons |
| and you didn't have to hear or read the debtor's | | | | for the court to grant a motion to vacate the |
| lies in court. | | | | judgment. Judges like to give defendants extra |
| However, a default judgment (where the debtor | | | | leeway, as they want all sides to have their day in |
| did not show up) is sometimes a hollow victory. | | | | court, even if they defaulted. |
| Many debtors do not care about default | | | | You don't get to choose whether your lawsuit |
| judgments. This is because the common sense | | | | results in a default judgment or not. You can |
| definition of a default, does not apply in civil | | | | choose how carefully you serve the right |
| courts. Most of the time when you default, you | | | | defendant, and make sure to use a registered |
| lose. In civil court, a default is often a second | | | | process server or a sheriff, to personally serve |
| chance for a debtor to avoid paying a judgment. | | | | the defendant. |
| Other disadvantages of a default judgment | | | | Sometimes you can't personally serve the |
| include: | | | | defendant. In this case, you must have a |
| 1) If the court notice of the default does not | | | | substitute service done on (e.g) their spouse, or |
| mention a dollar amount, you must get a judge to | | | | service by publishing in a newspaper (how |
| sign an order to make it an enforceable money | | | | obsolete). When you have a default judgment |
| judgment. | | | | with less than perfect proof of personal service, |
| 2) You can't do pre-judgment discovery on the | | | | it's considered a weak judgment. |
| debtor. This means you may have to later do | | | | One way to "clean up" a weak judgment is to |
| post-judgment discovery to show fraudulent | | | | later personally serve the debtor with a post |
| transfers or find the debtor's assets. | | | | judgment document such as an abstract of |
| 3) Default judgments are harder to domesticate | | | | judgment, or a memorandum of costs, or an |
| (transfer) into some other states. (E.G., | | | | order of examination. Six months after a debtor |
| Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York). | | | | is personally served, they are considered |
| 4) Debtors don't care about default judgments. If | | | | personally aware of the judgment, even if the |
| they cared, they would have either paid you, or | | | | first service on them was substituted service. |
| showed up in court to contest your complaint. If | | | | When judgments have substitute service, it's |
| you or a judgment enforcer takes their assets, | | | | often a good idea to personally serve the debtor |
| they may suddenly care very much. The most | | | | something, and wait 6 months before taking |
| popular way debtors try to avoid paying a | | | | aggressive enforcement actions. |