Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Maryland

A judgment was entered against you in '98. When the suit that led to that judgment was filed, you should have received a copy of the suit papers, which required you to respond if you wanted to present a defense. Either you didn't receive them or you ignored them, so a judgment was entered. To get this judgment, the plaintiff would have had to file proof in the court record that you were served, such as a certified mail receipt or an affidavit from a process server that you were served. Then you should have received a notice of the judgment having been entered against you. That would have given you the opportunity, within 30 days of the entry of judgment, to challenge it if you had not in fact received proper notice of the suit. Once that 30 days went by without any action by you, the judgment became enrolled for 12 years. Now the plaintiff, who obviously hasn't been able to collect the amount of the judgment from you, as well as the accrued interest and court costs, has renewed the judgment for another 12 years. The statute of limitations has nothing to do with this; that measures the time after a claim arises that the plaintiff has to file the initial suit. At this point, there really isn't anything you can do to set aside the judgment. It's strange that you would have received this notice after all these years since you are obviously no longer living at the same address, though perhaps someone made a new effort to find you and did so. If so, you might discover that they are attempting to attach your bank account or put a garnishment on your paycheck. If that happens, you should meet with a lawyer to discuss how to deal with it.