Judgement on debt collection in New Jersey?
I have a judgement for a debt collection in NJ. The attorney for the debt collector said I was served paperwork at an address in NJ I haven’t lived at in 12 years. I don’t even reside in the state and can prove I didn’t live there at the time they tried to serve me. The debt is way passed the statue of limitations for collection. yet they won the judgement because I didn’t show in court. The original court case was put on the docket in NY where I currently reside. The NY judge transferred it to NJ since that’s where the other party is located. I don’t understand how they can win a claim against me when they couldn’t serve me in the first place and why the judgement wasn’t dismissed and the case reopened. I have searched NJ websites for further clarification on this law to no avail. Any help would be much appreciated!
Many debt collectors have figured out that if they “accidentally” serve you at an old/incorrect address…that you’ll be a no show and court, so they can therefore win a default judgment on a debt that is past the SOL.
See my answer at the following link for more info:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100216163215AAAnVBo