Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Reversing Default Judgment

Whether the default judgment can be reversed or not depends upon many factors, such as whether service was proper, whether there is a legitimate excuse for failure to answer, etc. I would have to know a little bit more to determine whether there is a chance to vacate and reverse it.

I specialize in debt collection practice (both from the debtor and creditor side.) If you need a Southern California lawyer, please feel free to call me to talk about the situation.

Re: Reversing Default Judgment

You ask a lot of questions, but replies on this site are limited to 3000 characters and there is no way to address each question you ask in that amount of text.

The most important thing to know is that defaults and default judgments can be set aside based upon any of several grounds, including improper service and reasonable misunderstanding of the papers. If the default judgment is set aside then the plaintiffs will no longer be able to enforce it. There are time limits on such motions, though, and how much time your friend has depends upon several facts your question does not provide.

Most motions for relief from default aren't particularly complicated, but laypeople should not try to prepare and argue on themselves if it can be helped. Your relative should get a lawyer to protect her interests if at all possible.

Keep in mind that winning a motion for relief is not the same thing as winning the case. If the default is lifted your relative will still have to answer the complaint and litigate the case, just as she would have if there had been no misunderstanding in the first place.

Good luck.

Re: Reversing Default Judgment

Your questions are too extensive to be answered thoroughly on this site. However, a motion to set aside default judgment is premised on legal procedural deficiencies more often than not. If you would like a free phone consultation, contact us directly.