Judgement

[zener]

I am an Oregon resident and have a judgement against me in California. How long can the person who got the judgement attempt to collect? The original debt is about 5 years old and I would prefer it to go away rather than be forced to file bankruptcy. Thank you for any advice.

 

[seniorjudge]

What was the judgment for?

When was the judgment entered against you?

 

[zener]

Judgement was for an unpaid credit card debt. Here is a bit more detail on the specifics. Original credit card balance was about $8000. A collector bought the debt, added fees and interest and sued for $13,000. I was not living in the area when they sued me but they had my parents address and left a subpoena on their doorstep. I didn not show up for the court case and this resulted in the judgement. This was about 2 years ago. I have other debts that are all about 5 years old as well as unpaid student loans so my total debt is about $35,000 but no one else has tried to sue me. I am hoping it would be better to wait and that the debts will pass a limitation and fall off my credit report. The other option would be to file BK which will hurt my credit for a longer period making it more costly to purchase a home. One other factor, I had a bit of money about a year and a half ago and it shows on bank statements that $20,000 moved from stocks into bank accounts and was spent so I thought I should wait until 2 years has expired before thinking about filing bankruptcy.

 

[seniorjudge]

Some judgments can last years.

I suspect it would behoove you to talk to a lawyer about how long these judgments can last.

 

[zener]

you said "I suspect it would behoove you to talk to a lawyer about how long these judgments can last"

I thought that was what I was doing here

 

[seniorjudge]

http://www.weblocator.com/attorney/ca/law/c03.html

California law is so squirrely that I really hesitate to tell you anything.

However, if this website is correct (and I have no way of knowing if it is correct or not), then it says that a small claims judgment in California lasts ten years.

Therefore, I suspect that a civil judgment would last at least that long too.