Some consumers are shocked when they find out that a court has issued a Judgment against them.  This can happen when a consumer was never formally notified of the lawsuit by a process server.  Then, when they apply for credit, such as for a home loan or car loan, they are surprised to be declined because of the unknown Judgment.

Under Florida law, this does not necessarily mean you have no further options or that you have to pay the entire judgment.  There are some circumstances that allow you to ask the Court to vacate the judgment, or have it set aside.  This is because Florida law has a strong public policy favoring the resolution of cases in open court, rather than one party winning on a technicality.  There are generally two categories of cases where a judgment can be reversed, each with its own set of deadlines.

For the first category, there is generally a time limit of one year.  If less than one year has passed since judgment was entered against you, you may be eligible to get it set aside on any of the following grounds:  mistake, inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect, fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct of the party who obtained the judgment against you.  For some of these, you must also be able to demonstrate that you had a “meritorious defense”.  This simply means that you had a defense that you could have raised that could have made a difference in the outcome.

For the second category, there is no time limit for bringing the motion to vacate the judgment or have it set aside.  This category includes cases where the judgment is void.  Void judgments include those where the person being sued was not given the appropriate notice of the lawsuit or a reasonable opportunity to defend against the lawsuit.  There is no time limit for such judgments, because Florida law considers such judgments to be invalid and not legally binding.

If you have a judgment against you that you did not know about, contact a lawyer promptly to determine your legal rights.  If you live in (or the Judgment was entered in a court in) Seminole County, Orange County, Volusia County, Lake County or Brevard County, please feel free to call us toll-free at 1-888-834-5297 for a free consultation to determine your legal options.

Federal law allows you to get a free annual copy of your credit report from the three primary credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.  However, be careful of imitators that are not really free.  For example, some companies will provide you copies of your credit report, and even include the word “free” in the title of their website, but their services are not really free.  Instead, they often require you to purchase a product or service (such as a credit monitoring service) in order to obtain your credit report.    One of those, freecreditreport.com, has paid over a million dollars in fines to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to settle charges that its ads were misleading.

You can get to the website from which you can obtain your free credit report annually by clicking here.  You can request your credit report through that website, and get it almost instantly.  Or, you can also order your credit report by phone or mail through that website.  Once you get your annual credit report, make sure to review it carefully to ensure there are no errors.  Sometimes, you will see accounts you closed long ago still being listed as active.  Other accounts can indicate you are behind in your payments even when you are not.

If you find any errors in your credit report, immediately notify the credit reporting agency (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion).  Describe the error to them in detail, and provide them with documentation showing their error (if you have that documentation).  Keep in mind, you have the legal right to dispute any of the listed debts, and they are required to be marked as “disputed” if they are not removed.

Our client bought a new car from Mercedes Benz of South Orlando.  They told him that the car was his, they applied on his behalf for the car’s tag and registration, and he insured the car as required by Florida law.  However, a few days later, they tried to tell him that the deal had fallen through; they also told him they could get the deal approved if he came back in and signed a new contract at a higher interest rate.  This bait and switch practice is also known by other names:  “yo-yo” deal, spot delivery, bailment, or seller’s right to cancel.  To make matters worse, they did not return his trade-in vehicle that he had used for his down payment.  Eventually, the dealer had the vehicle repossessed at night.

We strongly disagreed with the dealer’s claim that it was legally entitled to cancel the contract, and worked diligently on behalf of our client.  Even without filing a lawsuit, we were able to convince the dealer to not only return the car to our client and honor the initial quoted interest rate, but also to provide a discount to which our client had been entitled but did not receive.  Thus, the settlement resulted in our client receiving the car he had been promised, but with lower monthly payments than originally quoted.

If you were the victim of a bait-and-switch scam here in Central Florida (including Orange County, Seminole County, Volusia County, Lake County or Brevard County), we would be honored to help you enforce your legal rights.

The best way to protect yourself when a debt collector calls you is to know your rights under both federal (U.S.) law and under Florida law. Many of these rights are described in the articles on False and Misleading Statements by Debt Collectors, Harassment and Unfair Debt Collection Tactics, Debt Collectors Calling at All Hours, Debt Collectors Calling Family and Friends, and other articles on this blog.

This article describes the best way for you to assert those rights, regardless of whether or not you owe the alleged debt.

First, write down the name of the person who contacted you, and the name of their company. If they contacted you by letter or in writing using another method, save that letter.

Second, write the debt collector a letter requesting them to “validate” or verify the debt. You only have 30 days to request this. Click here for a list of the information to which you are entitled, if you request it.

Third, don’t be afraid to tell the debt collector to leave you alone. If you don’t owe the debt, put it in writing to the debt collector who contacted you.

Fourth, don’t agree to make even a small payment. Some slick debt collectors try to convince you to make a small payment, often claiming that it is needed to show your “good faith”. Debt collectors often do this on old debt which is past the Statute of Limitations, and for which they cannot legally sue you. However, if you make even a small payment, this can reset the clock, meaning they can then sue you for the entire debt, even if they couldn’t do so before.

Fifth, keep voice mail messages they have left for you, especially if they are abusive or show profanity. In Florida, you cannot generally record phone calls to or from debt collectors unless you first advise the debt collector that you will be recording their phone call. However, you can keep any recordings they leave on your answering machine or on your voice mail. You’d be amazed at how often debt collectors will leave threatening messages, including saying they work for law enforcement, or that you will be arrested, or that they will send someone to “send a message” to you. Even though these are illegal, abusive debt collectors will often still leave such messages.

Sixth, if you get sued by a debt collector, you must respond promptly, or you may lose automatically. You can either represent yourself and defend the lawsuit, or hire a consumer attorney experienced in defending debt collection cases who will know the rules of civil procedure and the rules of evidence.

Seventh, protect your credit score and credit report. You are entitled to a free credit report once per year from the major credit reporting agencies, so don’t hesitate to get it. Many consumers are surprised at all the debt that are listed, even when those debts are not theirs. Don’t wait until you apply for a car loan or home loan to discover these. And, if you find such debts that are not yours, dispute those debts in writing to make sure they are cleared up before you go shopping for a car or home.

Eighth, if you believe you are a victim of abusive debt collection practices, don’t hesitate to file a complaint with the federal agency, the Federal Trade Commission. Click here for information on How to File a Complaint Against a Debt Collector.

Of course, if you have any questions about your rights, or if you need help dealing with an abusive or stubborn debt collector, please do not hesitate to call me on our toll-free number (1-888-834-5297) for a free initial consultation.