Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Washington
Vacate Judgement
How do I vacate a judgment in Washington District Court and stay a garnishment--I wasn't served with a notice of hearing or the judgment.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Collateral attack on Garnishment
Garnishment statutes: http://leginfo.leg.wa.gov/pub/rcw/title_06/chapter_027/
The following excerpt from Blair v. Gim Corp., Inc., __ Wn. App. ___, 945 P.2d 1149 (1997), explains the proper procedure:
In Khani and Lindgren, both defendants challenged garnishments by attacking and vacating underlying default judgments. Mr. Khani's case is illustrative. He used a motion to vacate a default judgment and quashed a writ of garnishment. Ultimately, Mr. Khani prevailed and was awarded attorney fees as the prevailing party for the proceeding, vacating the default judgment and the proceeding quashing the writ of garnishment pursuant to RCW 6.27.230. Khani, 75 Wash.App. at 327, 877 P.2d 724.
If the underlying judgment is from Superior Court, see CR 60 http://198.187.0.226/courts/rules/state/cr/cr069.txt and CR 62 http://198.187.0.226/courts/rules/state/cr/cr071.txt.
If District Court, see CRLJ 60 http://198.187.0.226/courts/rules/state/crlj/crlj057.txt and CRLJ 62 http://198.187.0.226/courts/rules/state/crlj/crlj059.txt
You may need an attorney to help you. Whetever you do, you must move quickly.