Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: default on note

File and serve summons and complaint, obtain judgment, and, enforce judgment. Call me directly at 16192223504 for assistance.

Re: default on note

Sort of. First you have to wait til payment is due and in default, then you will have to file a lawsuit where the contract was entered and due, serve it on defendants properly, then pursue the lawsuit to judgment at trial unless it is settled or defaulted by them. If the amount is sufficient to justify hiring an attorney, you would be wise to do so. Contact me if interested in doing it right.

Re: default on note

You will have to file a breach of contract claim, and perhaps one for common counts. There are many technical defenses to complaints especially with debt collection matters, and you may be subject to those in addition to such things as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (both the Federal and State versions). I don't know what you mean by a "court notice" or "judgment of default" The question of WHERE to file is dependent upon many factors, too numerous to go into here. If you want to email me privately, perhaps we can come up with some strategies to get you paid.

Re: default on note

Your questions are a bit too lengthy for a complete answer on this forum. However, in a nutshell, your claim boils down to breach of contract, and you would have to perform the requisite "steps" of initiating a lawsuit for such, and according to FDCPA laws as a collector of a debt. Our Law Office can provide you with prompt, affordable legal assistance in this matter. For a free phone consultation, contact us directly today.

Re: default on note

It used to be that there were formalities that needed to be observed prior to initiating a collection action on a defaulted promissory note. For this reason, lawyer-drafted promissory notes still contain phrases such as "Diligence, demand, presentment, notice of dishonor, and protest are waived by all makers, sureties, guarantors and indorsers of this note." See Commercial Code, sections 3501 to 3504. Absence of such language is probably not a barrier to suit for failure to pay in California, but it might be if the maker or guarantor were out of state.

I believe that a prospective defendant should receive some prior notice that legal action will be undertaken. While not a legal necessity in most instances, it is a courtesy and may result in payment.

I doubt that the Fair Debt Collection Practices laws will apply. They apply to third-party bill collectors, not to the creditor himself nor to an attorney working for the creditor.

Re: default on note

Here are some procedural afterthoughts to my prior answer:

A lawsuit will have to be filed and served, and a judgment obtained, in order for you enforce collection through liens, attachment, levy, or foreclosure and related debt-enforcement tools. You cannot 'strongarm' someone into paying unwillingly without first obtaining a judgment. Well, there is a provision in law for pre-judgment attachment, and when you select an attorney you might discuss this provisional remedy, but it's not easy to accomplish.

The fact that the note says California law applies is one factor weighing in favor of jurisdiction in California's courts, but I can tell you from experience that it's just one factor and not dispositive. If the note said that jurisdiction shall be in California, that would assure that you could file and maintain the suit here.

My recommendation would be to file the suit in a California county that bears some reasonable relationship to the transaction, i.e., where the note was negotiated, where the proceeds were delivered, where the maker(s) lived when the loans were first made, where the makers were going to use the money, or, as a last resort, where you live. Then serve the suit. It will then become their problem to show lack of jurisdiction in California and/or improper venue in the county you selected.

If the debtors fail to answer and defend, you can get a default judgment from the court clerk. Then, you can enforce the judgment in another state. Most states have simplified enforcement of out-of-state judgments by adopting a version of the Sister-State Money-Judgments Act. California's version is Code of Civil Proecedure sections 1710.10 to 1710.65.

You will probably need a California lawyer to get the judgment and then a lawyer in the other state to obtain enforcement there. All of this should not be terribly expensive, however.

Re: default on note

I would need to see the documents and notes to be sure, but normally you file suit, take judgment and then enforce it. If you think that the person is a flight risk or will hide assets, you can seek an attachment order seeking to freeze assets in the appropriate case. I invite you to contact me further on this.