nowayout Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 My husband received a summons for a court date of Sept. 17 (MBNA). He went and was told that the court date was actually Sept. 24, but not informed in writing. He did not go to court on the 24th and MBNA was awarded a default judgment against him. Does he have enough to vacate the judgment? This is for a large amount (24,000) and I am sure they'll try to garnish or freeze our accounts if he doesn't do something. Any advice? I've been trying to get him to see a lawyer, but he's not doing anything at this point! HELP! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 Hopefully one of the lawyers will jump in here, but I've got a couple of questions. Who told your husband the court date was changed? The MBNA lawyer, or the clerk? What reason was given? Why not in writing? And, why didn't he go?If it was the MBNA lawyer, then chances are he wasn't prepared to have your husband show up and, after your husband left, he got the date changed. If that's the case, I would think you have grounds for having the judgment vacated. You really do need to get a lawyer involved...or be prepared to tackle this case yourselves. Ignoring it won't make it go away, and now that they have a judgement, some nasty things can happen quickly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recovering Attorney Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 Get a lawyer and get one now. You should have a valid excuse for missing the 24th. The longer you wait, the harder it will be. Don't try to be cheap. This is a lot of money, so pay good money or competent professional help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowayout Posted October 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 Hopefully one of the lawyers will jump in here, but I've got a couple of questions. Who told your husband the court date was changed? The MBNA lawyer, or the clerk? What reason was given? Why not in writing? And, why didn't he go?If it was the MBNA lawyer, then chances are he wasn't prepared to have your husband show up and, after your husband left, he got the date changed. If that's the case, I would think you have grounds for having the judgment vacated. You really do need to get a lawyer involved...or be prepared to tackle this case yourselves. Ignoring it won't make it go away, and now that they have a judgement, some nasty things can happen quickly...My husband was informed by the desk clerk at the courthouse that the date was incorrect on the summons. No reason, just the wrong date was written on it. He didn't go because he felt he went on the correct date, according to his summons. I wasn't very happy with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recovering Attorney Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 well, that is not a good excuse. Get yourself a lawyer, or consider a Chap 13 action Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowayout Posted October 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 He has informed me that he won't see a lawyer. We had been working with a credit counseling place...can they do anything to help? Otherwise, I guess we just see what they come and take, since he's not doing anything. He's the sole income producer for the family and just about everything is joint. I am at a loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 Credit counselors are almost all scams...they'll take your money and run. Some are in league with the CC companies...they'll only "fix" the debts to those few, and leave you dangling for the rest. The few that are honest don't do anything you can't do yourself...cheaper.If your husband won't deal with the problem, maybe he'll let you handle it. There's a lot of good info here on how to deal with CAs and even on how to get judgements vacated. You can do most of it yourself, if you're willing to learn and put in the effort. You might even turn it into an income producing thing, if you catch the CA's bending the FDCPA enough. I'd suggest you get in touch with the clerk of courts and ask what to do next. "Wrong date on the summons" doesn't compute...there must be more to the story than that.If MBNA has a judgement against you, there are some really bad things that can happen...soon. They can garnishee your husbands wages or seize your bank accounts. I can symphatize (sp?) with what you're going through. My wife doesn't want to deal with our problems and tends to just ignore the consequences. She's already planning how we'll decorate the house for Christmas, when its likely we'll be evicted by then.One of you is going to have to take charge and deal with this stuff...its not going away, and it will only get worse if you don't start fighting back. And remember, we're all here to help with whatever info we can... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowayout Posted October 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 Thank you for your thoughts...I really appreciate all of the knowledge I have found on these boards. What can I do myself when the judgment on this one is in his name alone? I am going to the courthouse on Tues to find out what paperwork he needs to get to file an appeal on the judgment (going to at least try). Is there anything else I can do at this point?Second, we have a joint account that was just sent to arbitration by MBNA (Wolpoff & Abrahmson again). I just found out that I should have sent a refusal letter, but now it's past the 30 days...should I still send it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 Yeah, all you can do is try. Collect as much info on what happened as you can. As for MBNA, I assume you've read the sticky at:http://debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16946I think you can still send a letter refusing the arbitration...at the very least it will be good for your paper trail. Realistically, MBNA is going to win the arbitration...W&A and the National Arbitration Forum are lackys for MBNA, and I've never heard of NAF ruling against them.Doesn't really matter, because the arbitration award is not worth much...they need to have that turned into a judgement, and that's where you'll fight them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowayout Posted October 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 I went to the courthouse this a.m. and they don't have any forms/paperwork there to file a motion to vacate a judgment or appeal. Suggested I find an attorney. So, I will tell my husband that and see where he wants to go next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRDTNogood Posted October 12, 2004 Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 I went to the courthouse this a.m. and they don't have any forms/paperwork there to file a motion to vacate a judgment or appeal. Suggested I find an attorney. So, I will tell my husband that and see where he wants to go next.I wouldn't give your husband the opportunity to "see where he wants to go next." This judgement is going to affect the family. Step in there and create some action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowayout Posted October 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 I called the courthouse after I had been there and spoke to someone who was more knowledgable than the person at the desk. She gave me specific directions about filing the motion. I found some forms online for IL and have gotten those ready. When my husband gets home tomorrow, he can sign them and I can go file them and get a new court date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowayout Posted November 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Update: Today was dh's court date on the motion to vacate. It was granted by the judge. The judge said the summons appeared to be forged with the incorrect date.Now, dh must file an Answer to the Complaint (within 7 days). He was told to answer the statements on the motion filed by the creditor. The statements are as follows:1. This application is filed pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 USC Section 9. 2. The Respondent opened a charge account with Petitioner. Pursuant to the terms of the charge account agreement the parties agreed to arbitrate any claim or disputes. A copy of the Charge Agreement is attached as Exhibit 1. 3. The Petitioner elected arbitration when the Respondent failed to pay as required by the charge account agreement. Attached hereto is a certified copy of the Arbitrator's Award entered by the National Arbitration Forum on (date). See Exhibit 2. 4. The Arbitrator's Award is final, no application to vacate or modify the award having been pursuant to 9 USC sections 10 or 11. Wherefore, the Petitioner, MBNA America Bank, prays that this court confirm the Arbitrator's Award in favor of Petitioner and against Respondent in the amount of (amount) plus costs. How should these be answered? The order also says a Supreme Court Rule 222 Disclosure must be filed (within 28 days). Can anyone explain what this is? I've tried googling, but it's very confusing.thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadynRed Posted November 20, 2004 Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 There have been court decisions against MBNA and their nasty arbitration clauses:http://www.atla.org/homepage/mbna.aspxA FEDERAL judge ruled that the mandatory arbitration clauses are "illegal, unconcionable and unenforceable"http://www.atla.org/homepage/attcourt.aspxThere is material there that can be used to fight MBNA on this, but you are probably going to need a lawyer to do it properly. Take copies of these cases with you, a lawyer can use the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowayout Posted November 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2004 Thank you so much for those links!Can someone please help me with the Answer to the Complaint that I need to do? The statements are in the post a couple back. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impudence Posted November 23, 2004 Report Share Posted November 23, 2004 Your husband should consider himself a very lucky man to have someone like you working so hard on this for him!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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