Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Statute of Limitations

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Re: Statute of Limitations

1. If the creditor sued before the end of the 4 yeras and obtained a judgment, then 4 year statute no longer applies. The judgment is good for 10 years.

2. You could try a motion to set aside the default or a motion to correct the amount judgment, but see an attorney right away because there may be very strict time limits on your ability to do this.

3. If you can prove ty the satisfaction of the funds in tbe second account are SSI/retirement benefits, you should be able to claim them as exempt. If the levy occures, the levying officer will provide you with instructions and forms to claim the exemption.

4. It is possible, but very unlikely because of the cost and time involved. Selling a homestead requires a court order to prove that the property has enough equity so that a sale can pay off the liens and pay the amount of the homestead.

5. You might start by calling the lawyer referral service for the local county bar association.

Re: Statute of Limitations

Statutes of limitations apply only to the filing of a lawsuit and not to anything that happens afterward. Judgments expire after ten years, not four, and can be renewed repeatedly for ten years at a time.

If a default or a default judgment was entered against you in a case with which you were never served, you can move to have it set aside at any time. If you weren't served then you never became subject to the court's power and any orders it made against you -- including the judgment -- are void. As long as it remains on the books, though, people will presume that the judgment is valid and will act accordingly.

If you were properly served and your default was taken later, you can still seek to set it aside but you will have to demonstrate that doing so is in the interests of justice. If, for example, you knew about the suit and chose to ignore it, you may be stuck with the judgment even if the underlying claim was invalid. You will also have a limited amount of time in which to seek such relief, but how much time you will have and when it starts to run depend upon many factors which your question does not discuss.