Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania

I was behind on HOA dues and I screwed up by letting get out of hand. HOa filedsuit. I was going to go to the hearing to show the amt owed was less than they were claiming but missed it because my return flight from a business trip was delayed and I was stuck on a plane. Judgement was entered for the inflated amt plus judgement !ncl judgement and legal fees and atty fees. I never got a copy or notification of the judgement. I found out it was entered when my bank acct were frozen. I borrowed enough to pay the judgement in full but now the atty for HOA says j have pay addl execution fees. My question is... if they build addl fees into the judgement already... am I still liable for even more? And are they not required to at least notify you the judgement was entered and for what amt before going to the extreme of freezing your bank acct? My acct were frozen for over a week even though I talked to the atty the same day it started. With no access to my acct I ended up without my asthma medication for two days and because of that ended up in the emergency room on a breathing machine. Do I have any recourse? And do I have to pay the addl execution fee(whatever that is)k


Asked on 9/26/10, 1:45 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cary Hall Law Offices of Cary B. Hall, L.L.C.

Yes, you do have to pay the execution fees, and these are in addition to the initial filing fees already incorporated into the judgment against you. Of course, the judgment creditor (here, the homeowner's association) can always accept less in settlement and agree to mark the judgment fully satisfied. Apparently that's not happening for you, but you could ask.

Yes, you should have received a notice from the court once a judgment was entered against you. If you didn't, that's a problem, but probably not big enough to turn back the hands of time. You do *not* receive notice before your accounts are frozen, but you will very shortly thereafter -- and by that time, you will already know it anyway since you have no access to your cash! The reason for this delayed notice is because every judgment debtor would clean out his/her bank account if he/she knew it was going to be frozen. Make sense?

I believe you have no recourse, although I'm very sorry to hear about your hospital trip. Best of luck to you.

Cary B. Hall, Esquire

Law Offices of Cary B. Hall, L.L.C.

121 East Chestnut Street, Suite 205

Souderton, PA 18964

T: (267) 663-9995

F: (215) 525-4364

[email protected]

http://www.carybhall.com

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Answered on 10/01/10, 4:59 am


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