Posted on March 28, 2008 at 11:06 am I have a default judgment, I was properly served. I lost the summon. It is almost 2 years old. I was told by Prepaid Legal representative that my only option is to pay this. Even if I find violation from the Collection Agency, I cannot sue through Federal Court as it is over 1 year. I cannot try to vacate in local court as it is over 180 days since the judgment and being I was properly served it counts as such. Anyone knows how I should start with my negotiation process? I cannot pay the whole amount not even 20% of it. I can probably pay 10% in a month or so. I am self-employed and will be hard to put levy on me as my bank balances are very low in the first place. I am judgment proof at this time, but I don't plan on being so for much longer. Any help will be appreciated.

Posted on April 1, 2008 at 4:46 pm There is no such thing as judgment proof. It may be hard for them to execute the judgment (very hard being that you are self employed), but they do have ways to collect. Paying is not your only option, but you are too late to try vacating or appealing. What state are you in? Have you checked the garnishment laws for your state to see what they can do? Have you thought about a protected (online, virtual bank) account?There are some options for you, but keep in mind, the collection attorneys can try and execute at any moment if they have judgment.

Posted on April 7, 2008 at 12:00 am Hi Mark,I am in California.  I have ways of protecting against bank levy and such.  I was hoping there is a way for me to pay off my debt (the amount that was not exagerrated by the colleciton agency and the original creditor) as an installment.  I am however afraid to contact the lawyer who filed the judgment against me as he may not be fair and I may end up being harrassed.

Posted on November 24, 2008 at 7:08 pm I don't know the quickest, or best way to get out of your situation...  but, my personal thoughts are to start paying, even just a little.  Show that you acknowledge the debt you owe and let them know you aren't hiding from it.  You just don't have it.If you pay little by little, maybe they will let you get away with a much smaller lump sum instead of hundreds of installments of twenty dollars.

Posted on June 8, 2009 at 12:39 pm Every time you make one of those 'little' payments, you are re-aging your debt.  If you are already in default, your best bet is to pay it in one lump sum settlement for pennies on the dollar (30-50% maybe) or let it go until it lapses.  Otherwise, you're just making payments on fees and interest.   And yes, there is such a thing as judgment proof.  Those on permanent disability who receive VA or SSDI benefits would be considered as such.  

Posted on June 8, 2009 at 1:58 pm M2aclark is not correct, as some people are in fact judgment proof. This means that they cannot be garnished (because of state garnishment laws or fixed income laws), do not have any assets that the creditor could attach a lien to and that they also do not have any non-exempt funds in a bank account that could be levied. If you are currently judgment proof, I strongly suggest that you try and settle the debt before that is no longer the case. Most collectors will accept lower than average settlements if they know this is the case. Even if you can't pay a lot right now, you may want to consider contacting the collector and offering a structured settlement. If accepted, this would allow you to pay off the settlement amount over an extended period of time (typically a few months). But, as I mentioned, you need to use the fact that you are judgment proof as ammunition for your negotiations. Letting the collector know that you only have a short time left before that is no longer the case would not help you at all. Or, you can fill out a form on DestroyDebt.Com to get matched up with a provider who has experience negotiating on delinquent accounts.

Posted on July 28, 2009 at 5:41 pm Go to Bolivia. The bankers create money and credit out of thin air. It's about time you gave them a taste of their own medicine.

Posted on July 29, 2009 at 1:29 pm "let it go until it lapses"- don'tbeasucker mentioned that was one of your options if you have a default judgment and want to settle for less. To clarify what that means- you can try and wait until the Statute of Limitations has passed for that debt. The SoL is different depending on what state you live in. And contrary to popular belief, it does not mean that you don't owe the debt anymore if it has passed, rather, that the creditor can no longer pursue legal action to try and collect the debt.

Posted on March 15, 2010 at 1:53 pm Kling Kling, this is what I found from expert John Hall http://en.allexperts.com/q/Collections-Law-912/settle-judgment-amount-listed.htm A negative entry can be deleted by the creditor, but it won’t.  They promise to do this all the time, but rarely if ever follow through and remove the entry.  What they will do is to put it down as a paid collection account, or as an account that was settled for less than the amount owed.  Both of these are not only negatives in and of themselves, the payment will have the opposite intended effect.  By paying anything on these at this point just very well may serve only to start the seven years all over again insofar as retaining negative entries on your report.  To pay them anything will do you more harm than good.  You will find these people (bill collectors) to be most unreasonable and illogical when it comes to even helping themselves.  They threaten and threaten and promise, but they rarely give the debtor the full truth.    Don’t pay them anything.  If they were going to do anything about this, it probably would have long since been done. Bottom line -  best bet is to do nothing at this point.  If they sue you, give me a call and I can explain your options at that point, but I doubt that will happen.   661  492-2673

Posted on March 16, 2010 at 3:21 am A question: what is the success rate of consumers who havedefault judgment & enrolled in a debt settlement company? -I have a default judgment and I want to settle for less