Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Re: Judgement notification

You note the potential application of the law of Virginia and New Jersey; this discussion relates to Virginia law only:

(1) A judgment in the general district court expires after ten years unless extended by motion timely filed or unless docketed in the approprtiate circuit court. A judgment in the circuit court expires after twenty years unless extended by the court upon motion timely filed.

(2) If you were in prison at the time of the court action that resulted in a judgment, you were entitled to have an attorney appointed to represent you at the plaintiff's expense, taxable as costs to you if you lose. (A "guardian ad litem".)

(3) The critical notice to you was not notice of the judgment having been imposed, but of service of process notifying you that the matter was going to court in the first place. It sounds like they knew where you were and could have had you properly served, if they claim the sheriff delivered notice of the judgment to you properly.

(4) If you're being harassed by a collection agency, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies, which means you could get a bigger judgment against them than they have against you.

(5) If they really did get a judgment against you, you can petition the circuit court in a suit in equity to have the judgment vacated, if there was (as it sounds from your description) a fraud on the court or if the court itself made some kind of serious mistake.

(6) If there was any kind of fraud or deception, and if the underlying transaction was a "consumer" transaction, the Virginia Consumer Protection Act may give you some remedies, although that may only apply if the matter goes to trial again and you assert the violations as a counterclaim against them.