Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New Jersey

Re: Judgement Vacated

Unfortunately for you the scenario you have described is legal and occurs often in the civil justice system. There is an overwhelming feeling among judges that even where a defendant defaults (fails to appear in a case) and a judgment is granted, it is favorable to allow the defendant to vacate that judgment and "fight the case on the merits."

Since a case fought on the merits almost always requires much more legal knowledge it is often preferable to have an attorney representing your interests.

If you are interested in speaking with an attorney, you can reach me at (877)NYC-LAW1 for a free consultation regarding your case. I am admitted as a NJ lawyer and a NY lawyer.

Re: Judgement Vacated

Andrew is right, this is common. The courts want things to be resolved on the merits of the case, not on someone intenionally or accidently failing to answer timely. If your kid/wife/mother/etc. "forgot" to be sure you opend the mail with the complaint, you'd want the judge to give you a chance to tell him your part of the story, right!

Do this, send a letter to the court to supplement and anend your complaint, saying the defendant has no defense, because he is suppose to get permits and inspections. He didn't (at least he didn't get the inspections). So, this is a frivilous defense, and that if he has a frivilous defense, you want sanctions.

Second, amend your complaint to include the NJ Consumer Fraud Act (CFA), N.J.S.A. 56:8-1. The CFA will give you treble (triple) damages. Get estimates to correct the work done. If that is $3,000, you will be entitled to $9,000. If the contract was for $5,000, I'd ask for the amount of the contract, or $15,000. NOW, if you are in small claims, you need to ask the court to move your case from Sm. Claims, to Special Civil Part, where the limit is $15,000.

You can see this is getting more complicated, so you may want to get an atty. ALSO, under the CFA, the court MUST award reasonable attorneys fees. I sued for a $700 deposit at a car dealer. We got $2,100 ($700 x 3) plus almost $4,000 in atty fees. Usually, you can't get fees that are not at least proportionate to the money in issue, but with the CFA, the court is required to award reasonable atty fees for the work performed. So, you should probably go talk with an atty.

You canfind the NJ CFA at: http://www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/ocp/cf1#cf1

Good luck.