Daniel Gershburg

Here is a tip.  Lets say you were served with what looks like court papers in the mail.  And you were ONLY served in the mail.  That means nothing was left nailed or taped to your door, and nothing was given to you in person. There is a good shot you werent served with the papers properly and you MAY have a way to throw out that specific judgment against you.  Again, I stress may because it really does involved the particulars of each case.  However, you should know that many credit collection law firms seem to engage in these practices.  What usually happens is that you receive court papers in the mail either on time, or too late for you to even make an appearance in court.  Or sometimes youll even receive papers stating that a judgment was entered against you when you didn’t even know there was an outstanding judgment in the first place.  You may have even called the collection firm who told you that even though you only received this piece of mail, the judgment is still legitimate and you still have to pay.  Wrong answer…collection firm people (what forceful language I used there).  In fact, there is a good chance that you werent served accurately and you may not (and I stress may) have to pay the judgment amount.  This might be an example of what is known as sewer service.  The jist is that these credit collection firms have so many cases, that they constantly screw up (legal term) service, in which case, the court may not have jurisdiction in your case (meaning the court may not be able to hear your case as it is right now, let alone enter a judgment against you.)  The best way to know is to get the affidavit of service from the collection firm.  Easier said then done however.  Many of these firms will not allow you to speak to an attorney, or will ignore these requests outright (even though they cant).  Speak to an attorney about your case if you think this happened to you.  It may save you grief, time, and money.