Crystal Colon
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- Florida
Apparently a judgment was filed against me in 1998 by First Union Bank in Fl for a defaulted auto loan. I never received notice of the hearing and up until last week had no idea the judgement even existed.
The bank went out of business not long after and I just assumed the loan went with it as I never heard about it again, the judgment never appeared on my credit, to my recollection, and I never had any wage garnishments or anything to alert me that a judgment had been won.
I've since moved to TX in 2012 and 2 weeks ago suddenly start getting letter from an attorney in FL advising me they have submitted for a new judgment to be filed to collect on the old judment that I never paid and referred me to a case # in a Fl court. They mentioned possible seizure of assets as well as wage garnishment.
They also attempted to deliver a summons but I was not home at the time.
When I look at the court documents filed on the FL Clerk of Courts website I can see the original awarded judgment from 1998 case, but the new document appears just to be a request for a new hearing and not an actual an awarded judgment and is in a "pending" status; no hearing date assigned.
I am a single mom, I get absolutely no assistance at all public assistance or otherwise. I have no assets to speak other than a few hundred dollars in a Roth IRA, and my bank account is almost always in a negative status because my income covers my bills and not much else (food, gas, incidentals) and my credit cards are all maxed to cover what my income doesn't.
Is this even legal? Can they file a new petition for a 20 yo judgment? Is wage garnishment a possibility, and how can I be expected to appear in court when I no longer reside in the state?
I can not afford to retain an attorney, or even to pay to file for BK.
The entire situation has my anxiety at an all time high and I am hoping to get some answers here so that I know what my recourse might be.
Please, any insight you can offer is greatly
appreciated. .
The bank went out of business not long after and I just assumed the loan went with it as I never heard about it again, the judgment never appeared on my credit, to my recollection, and I never had any wage garnishments or anything to alert me that a judgment had been won.
I've since moved to TX in 2012 and 2 weeks ago suddenly start getting letter from an attorney in FL advising me they have submitted for a new judgment to be filed to collect on the old judment that I never paid and referred me to a case # in a Fl court. They mentioned possible seizure of assets as well as wage garnishment.
They also attempted to deliver a summons but I was not home at the time.
When I look at the court documents filed on the FL Clerk of Courts website I can see the original awarded judgment from 1998 case, but the new document appears just to be a request for a new hearing and not an actual an awarded judgment and is in a "pending" status; no hearing date assigned.
I am a single mom, I get absolutely no assistance at all public assistance or otherwise. I have no assets to speak other than a few hundred dollars in a Roth IRA, and my bank account is almost always in a negative status because my income covers my bills and not much else (food, gas, incidentals) and my credit cards are all maxed to cover what my income doesn't.
Is this even legal? Can they file a new petition for a 20 yo judgment? Is wage garnishment a possibility, and how can I be expected to appear in court when I no longer reside in the state?
I can not afford to retain an attorney, or even to pay to file for BK.
The entire situation has my anxiety at an all time high and I am hoping to get some answers here so that I know what my recourse might be.
Please, any insight you can offer is greatly
appreciated. .