Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Missouri

Judgement

I was served recently here in missouri for a lawsuit of a oral contract that was made in the state of california,the amount is $3,700,the lawyer is in california, I cannot afford a lawyer to defend me on this therefor I will have to take the judgement against me.what I would like to know is after the judgement what happens next? I own no propery,I have an old car. will someone show up at my door and take my things away? such as a tv,vcr,dvd's etc? would they take an old car? I have a checking account that has $6.00 in it,what happens to my checking account?do they close it? and the work that I do is paid in cash so how would they be able to garnish that? what should I expect to happen?


Asked on 5/27/04, 9:46 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael R. Nack Michael R. Nack, Attorney at Law

Re: Judgement

Why allow a judgment to be taken against you? You can represent yourself in court. If you do, you should ask that the case be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, based upon the fact that nothing happened in Missouri upon which this court has jursdiction. The plaintiff's lawyer may turn around and sue you in California, but then any judgment would have to be registered here and you would get notice at that time and before any collection efforts could be made. But, to answer your questions, once there is a judgment against you the judgment creditor can file an execution and pay the shreriff to come out and execute upon your personal property. Yes, some creditors do have even old cars taken and sold by the sheriff if for no other reason than to get the judgment debtors attention. One option might be to meet with the plaintiff's attorney and offer to pay off the debt in small monthly payments. Good luck.

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Answered on 5/27/04, 11:39 pm


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