Notice Of Appearance and Hip Pocket Suits

[dgifta]

Does anyone know if a Notice Of Appearance will prevent a default judgment,
or simply means you have to be notified if someone is trying to get one?

In WA. State and 4 other states, apparently a Lawyer/Plaintiff can get a default
judgment against a person/defendant without filing a Summons And Complaint
with a court.

If the lawyer sends a S & C to a person, and the S. &C. has no court information
on it, most people will think it's bogus, and not answer it. Unfortunately it's
not bogus but has not yet been filed with the court. So the defendant doesn't
answer within 20 day, Lawyer goes to court and gets a default judgment.
Defendant loses. All over.

Lawyer gets everything he asks for.

The only way to stop this is to file an "answer" with the court, and to recognize
that receiving a Summons and Complaint with any court date or information
does not make the S.& C invalid in those 5 states. WA., Minn., N.D. are 3 of the 5 where this can be done.

I'm wondering if a Notice of Appearance is an additional way to stop these
Hip Pocket Summons suits, in addition to filing an answer?

Thank You

Dennis

[AngelinaCatHub]

This is all new news to me. A suit requires first, a letter of intent to the future Defendant (demand letter) and a filed complaint, where a subpoena is issued for a response either by answer or in person. Then a default Judgment can occur if the Defendant fails to show.

I once received a summons to appear the same day I received a default Judgment. It was an error on the Judges part and a friendly letter to the Judge got the Judgment set aside.

Can you quote some of those states laws allowing this or Court's procedure that would? 'Hub

[treehugger1]

It all depends upon your state's rules of civil procedure.

As I recall there are a few states where a complaint can be served before it is filed with the court and a case number listed. This must be done by a BAR member of the state. I have heard of this being allowed in some states.

As far as I know, you still must be served. If there is no apparent case number, I would at least file a notice to appear along with the complaint you receive. Once again, this will vary by state. Washington rules are here:

http://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/index.cfm

Here is a relevant rule for Washington

RULE 3
COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION

(a) Methods. Except as provided in rule 4.1, a civil action is
commenced by service of a copy of a summons together with a copy of a
complaint, as provided in rule 4 or by filing a complaint. Upon written
demand by any other party, the plaintiff instituting the action shall pay
the filing fee and file the summons and complaint within 14 days after
service of the demand or the service shall be void. An action shall not be
deemed commenced for the purpose of tolling any statute of limitations
except as provided in RCW 4.16.170.
(b) Tolling Statute. (Reserved. See RCW 4.16.170.)
(c) Obtaining Jurisdiction. (Reserved. See RCW 4.28.020.)
(d) Lis Pendens. (Reserved. See RCW 4.28.320 and 4.28.160.)

The plaintiff can wait 14 days to file AFTER you are served.

Here in Oregon, service is not allowed until after the plaintiff has filed the complaint and a case number issued. However, once a judgment is obtained any Oregon BAR attorney can issue a writ of garnishment without waiting for the court to sign off.

dgifta, It is good to research these issues. Hindsight serves little purpose in civil suits.

[dgifta]

Hi. Here's my actual situation.
I have a credit card in collection with a local attorney.
I agreed to a payment plan. They sent me a Stipulated Judgment and Summons and Complaint.
The S. and C. had no date or court information on it. I didn't take it seriously at first. Then it was brought to my attention that I should take it seriously,
and I needed to respond to it or I could be defaulted.I called the King County Courthouse, and spoke to one of the clerks. Indeed it is true.
If I don't respond to the Plaintiffs Attorney with answers, he can get a default judgment.
People need to file either a " Notice Of Appearance" or "Answers" or both to avoid this.
This is called a " hip pocket suit". It is possible in 5 states.
You can Google " hip pocket summons", and get the information yourself.
Dennis
Dennis

[dgifta]

Here is more information:

( Unfortunately I don't have enough posts to post links.)
The following statement is from a link I'll post when my post count gets to 15.I
only have 12.

"Some states follow this same procedure, but other states allow service of the summons and complaint by delivery directly to the defendant. In those states, the lawsuit is considered begun as soon as the defendant receives the papers".



The implications of this are truly disquieting. It means that in those 5 states, an attorney can mail you a S. And C., with no proof of delivery, and then get a default
judgment 20 days later.

S. and C. came to me in a pplain old envelope. I didn't have to sign for anything
or do anything official. What if it had gotten lost in the mail?

Dennis

[doni49]

( Unfortunately I don't have enough posts to post links.)
The following statement is from a link I'll post when my post count gets to 15.I
only have 12.

Here's the link.

http://law.jrank.org/pages/10607/Summons.html

[dgifta]

Thank you! That's the one I was going to post.
Dennis