5 minute read • Upsolve is a nonprofit that helps you get out of debt with education and free debt relief tools, like our bankruptcy filing tool. Think TurboTax for bankruptcy. Get free education, customer support, and community. Featured in Forbes 4x and funded by institutions like Harvard University so we'll never ask you for a credit card. Explore our free tool
In a NutshellIf you have outstanding debt, it could lead the creditor to sue you and if the lawsuit results in a judgment, they become a judgment creditor. In that case, you become a judgment debtor. But what exactly is a judgment and what does that mean for you? The purpose of this article is to answer that question. We’ll also provide an overview of civil judgments and collection efforts, especially those arising from debt collection litigation.
Written by Curtis Lee, JD.
Updated July 20, 2021
If you have outstanding debt, it could lead the creditor to sue you and if the lawsuit results in a judgment, they become a judgment creditor. In that case, you become a judgment debtor. But what exactly is a judgment and what does that mean for you? The purpose of this article is to answer that question. We’ll also provide an overview of civil judgments and collection efforts, especially those arising from debt collection litigation.
A judgment is a type of court order that officially decides a court case. Judgments exist in criminal and civil matters. However, debt collection lawsuits will involve money judgments. There are four major ways a creditor or collection agency can obtain a money judgment against a defendant.
A default judgment occurs if you don’t properly respond to the lawsuit. A default judgment may occur if you:
The basic premise of a default judgment is that you lose the case because you’ve decided to ignore the plaintiff’s lawsuit. This means the plaintiff wins the case even if you have a legitimate defense to their allegations. In other words, because you gave up, the court rules that you lose.
Depending on your reason for not responding to the plaintiff’s lawsuit, you can sometimes set aside the default judgment. To get a judge to agree to set aside the default judgment, you must make the request within a certain period of time. Your state’s laws will determine how much time you have, but it’s often around 30 days.
Assuming your request is made on time, you will also need a good reason for setting aside the default judgment. Common reasons can include never receiving notice of the lawsuit or being unable to appear in court due to no fault of your own. Even if you have one of these reasons, there’s no guarantee a court will agree to set aside the civil judgment. That’s why it’s so important to prevent a default judgment from occurring in the first place.
Discovery is the phase in litigation where each party will request information from the other side. They’re looking for information that could serve as evidence at trial. Parties often bicker about discovery, especially as a way of giving their legal opponents a hard time. As a result, entering judgment for failing to provide discovery is an extreme punishment and is rare.
If the defendant ignores the discovery requests from the plaintiff, the plaintiff will file various, discovery-related motions with the court. Only when the defendant ignores these repeated attempts will a court enter judgment against the defendant.
A judge will often use other sanctions before granting a judgment for failing to cooperate with a discovery request. These could include monetary penalties or limits on certain legal arguments that the offending party may use at trial.
After each side has completed discovery, either side may file a motion for summary judgment, which asks the court to decide a case because going to trial is unnecessary. A court may grant a motion for summary judgment if there’s “no genuine issue of material fact.” In plain English, that means both sides agree on the relevant facts of the case and as a result, the judge can decide the case without having a trial. If a court grants the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, it has the same effect as if there had been a trial and a jury found in the plaintiff’s favor.
If your case goes to trial, either the judge or the jury will reach a verdict. If they reach a verdict in the plaintiff’s favor, the plaintiff will ask the court to enter judgment against the losing party. This is where the verdict becomes official. It gets filed in public records and the judge makes adjustments to the verdict, if necessary. These might include lowering the verdict monetary award if there are special legal caps on what the plaintiff can recover. It might also increase the award by adding interest, filing fees, or other court costs.