Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California
Request to vacate limbo judgments
Allegedly based on a 664.6 oral settlement on record, a judgment was filed by plaintiff announced as ''in error'' but the Judge signed it JUN03. In SEP03 an Amended Judgment was sign by the Judge and the attys for the plntiff and defdant approved only as to form. Since then (1) Defdant has satisfied the judgment but the plntiff has not; (2) Plntiff brought two actions against defdant to enforce terms on the JUN03 judgment but lost because the terms and related orders were ruled void; (3) Plntiff recently lost appeal attempting to render JUN03 judgment valid. Both judgments extend beyond the terms agreed to in the 664.6 oral settlement so it seems safe that nothing beyond the 664.6 agreement will be enforceable; however, there is no deterrent for plntiff to keep attempting to enforce unstipulated items, thus wasting my time and money in unnecessary defenses. Neither the void nor amended judgments are needed to finalize the case and I can't pursue the outstanding terms without inadvertently being forced into stipulation with the judgments. Will you please vacate at least the JUN03 judgment as Void on its face and if possible, remove the Amended Judgment as well? There is no way to finalize the case with Satisfactions of Judgment.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Request to vacate limbo judgments
I have recently done extended research into a similar issue. It was such a extenuated argument concerning the authority of the court to make the orders, that, the appeal arguments were such that the attorney's could "not see the forest because of the trees." "He who forms the issues wins the argument." If the issue was simply whether or not the court can amend its own order at its discretion, I believe that there would have been a favorable result. Call me directly at 16192223504 to see if I can salvage the case.
Re: Request to vacate limbo judgments
I suggest you either set up a meeting with an attorney in your area and bring all of the paperwork, or review the matter with your lawyer who acted on your behalf to see how to proceed. Good luck to you.
Re: Request to vacate limbo judgments
Your question is a little unclear, but there are a few things you can do:
1. Get a copy of the transcript from the hearing where the settlement was entered into the record. No doubt, the court retained jurisdiction over the parties to enforce the terms of the settlement. You thus need only make a motion to enforce the settlement. And if all terms of the settlement are complete, then you also ask the judge to enter an Acknowledgement of Satisfaction of Judgment.
2. I imagine that your agreement does not contain a provision permitting an award of attorneys' fees and costs to parties that find it necessary to make motions to enforce the agreement. If it does, then that is how you recover your attorneys' fees. If it does not, then the next time your adversary makes a legally pointless motion, you counter with your own motion for sanctions pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure 128.7. In addition, the court can always set an Order to Show Cause why sanctions should not be imposed.
Most importantly, you need to take steps to get the Acknowledgment of Satisfaction of Judgment entered.
Good luck.
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