Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New York

Re: Default Judgements

A default judgment occurs when one party -- a plaintiff -- files suit against another party -- the defendant -- and the defendant fails to respond to the lawsuit. Depending on the jurisdiction and the court in question, a defendant typically has between 20 and 30 days to file an "answer" to a complaint, which is the document that the plaintiff files to start the lawsuit. If the defendant fails to file the answer or request an extension of time to do so (or file certain motions against the complaint), the defendant will be deemed in default. The plaintiff can then make a motion stating that the defendant has not contested the allegations of the complaint and, therefore, the plaintiff should be entitled to the relief requested in the complaint.

A default judgment is enforced just like any other judgment, i.e., a judgment that would be issued after a jury trial, for example. In certain circumstances, however, it is possible to get the default judgment overturned.

-- Kenneth J. Ashman; Ashman & Griffin, LLC; 312-648-1700; [email protected]