Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia
Legal debt collection
I moved from Virginia and forgot to pay on an account. Someone recieved a warrent in debt and did not tell me. I was then told that i missed the court date and would like to know rather or not i can take care of this without any jail time. I only owe about 100 dollars to the company.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Legal debt collection
I suggest you contact the plaintiff's attorney, and try to work something out in exchange for a satisfaction of judgment. If this is a civil case, you should be subject to jail time or other criminal penalties.
Re: Legal debt collection
First, I read Tim Elliott's response, which is correct, except that he I'm sure inadvertently left out the word "not" before the idea of jail time. A warrant in debt is the pleading to commence a civil case in General District Court in VA. There is no jail time involved - just a court determination that you owe the money. So call the plaintiff or its lawyer and work out an agreement to pay the debt in exchange for a satisfaction of the judgment -- unless you seriously dispute the claim, in which you may be able to have the judgment vacated for failure to serve you.