Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Indiana

judgement dismissed

in the early 90's my husband purchased a semi dump trailer, which he financed through a finance company, when he got sick and had to get out of trucking, he turned the trailer over after many attempts to sell it, as a volentary repossion, when they sold the dump trailer, it was for $3800 less then the what he owed on it, after going back and forth over it with the finance company, they was granted a judgement, we made 2 attempts to settle the matter in court and the PLTF failed to appear both times and the judge dismissed the case in 1996, now in 02/2004 i have another firm trying to collect for a 3rd party that purchased it from the orignal party, they called and left a threatning message on my answering machine and said they they were going to do an asset search, so they scared me into paying them on a monthly basis, in the mean time, i've been to the county clerks office and recieved a copy of the dismissal......am i or my husband still liable for this?? if so, would it be recommended to hire an attorney or just pay the debt


Asked on 8/03/04, 9:31 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
C. David DuMond Law Offices of David DuMond

Re: judgement dismissed

If the dismissal was "with prejudice" then the company will be unable to enforce a claim against you. Look at the docket entry and dismissal. There are other circumstances where the dismissal would be a complete obstacle to anyone enforcing a claim. The legal term is "res judicata", meaning the matter has already been decided. You are right to consider hiring an attorney to help with this matter. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fdc.htm. Check this link for your protections under the Fair Debt Colleciton Practices Act. Even though the debt could be considered a business debt, the chances are the debt collectors won't know the difference. Good luck.

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Answered on 8/04/04, 7:50 am


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