Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

I did not think that one could contest a judgment after a certain time period, such as two years max. It is required that a judgment creditor must renew a judgment within 10 years, or the judgment is void. You would have to read all the rules and laws that apply. Or hire me at $250 to do it.

In California, judgments are good for 10 years only, and must be renewed before the ten years runs or they become voidable. If it was not renewed 10 years ago, you need to tell the collection agency that they have an invalid judgment and if they try to enforce it you will sue them for abuse of judicial process and report them to the appropriate state agency. Demand a copy of the court file from the collection agency; they will not have it. Tell them that you were never notified of the court case so you can move to set aside the default because of fraud just learned of.

Assuming that the judgment has been renewed properly there is nothing you can do about it if the owner of the judgment wants to renew it. Whether or not you paid the rent 20 years ago does not matter since it is a judgment. That means the dispute is over and the court decided you owe the money. There is a lawsuit you can file to contest the validity of the judgment if you were not served with process properly. You need to see a lawyer but first go to court and get a complete copy of the court's file. You should oppose renewal if there is evidence that you were not served with the summons and complaint properly 20 years ago. It is not going to be easy to have a judgment set aside after 20 years and the burden will be on you. The judge will find it hard to believe that you did not know about the judgment 20 years ago. If it was not listed in your credit report or an Abstract of Judgment was not filed with the Count Recorder's Office then you might have an easier time showing you just learned about the judgment and took immediate action to have it set aside on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction by the court assuming you were not notified (served) properly 20 years ago.