Judgment against former spouses, only one served?

[gregemm]

Odd situation - couple gets divorced, then sued by junk debt buyer. He gets served, ex wife does not. His gets discharged in bk, can they collect from her? I know usually, yes, but how does it apply where she was not served? Understand if still married how service on one should cover the other, but once divorced and moved, any thoughts?

[despritfreya]

If the co-defendant is not properly served eventually the law suit will get dismissed (unless the JDB fudges the Affidavit of Service). Dismissal is without prejudice. Such a dismissal does not eliminate the co-defendant’s debt and I see no bar to collections inside or outside of a second law suit (subject to any SOL defense or subsequently filed bk by the co-defendant).

Des.

[gregemm]

Thanks Des. That's what I was expecting. I will have to find out what it shows for service. The summons to one party did show "husband and wife", could they proceed? Response to summons did indicate that they were no longer married

Another twist to it I had not thought about earlier, and this part I can't find anything online about. Original account was in one name only, account opened during marriage. No question about the community debt part there, but, it was sold after the divorce, and included only the same one name on the new account. Any thoughts on how community debts are handled when sold after divorce. I can see how both ways would be considered possible, 1-the "new" account opened when there was no more marital community and 2-original debt was community so this is as well. Does community debt survive like that?

Thanks again!

[GoingDown]

Out of curiosity, are they coming after her?

If not, let sleeping dogs lie.

"Have you failed to collect your money judgment?
You are not alone . . .
Consider these alarming statistics about judgment recovery:

Percentage of judgments that remain uncollected : 80%
Average judgment recovery rate for collection agencies: 14%
Value of an uncollected dollar after five years: 1 penny

It is hardly a surprise that the collection industry is a "growth" industry. The odds of collecting a debt diminish as time passes. Your judgment may have been awarded by the court but judgment collection is your responsibility. After a certain amount of time, creditors conclude that they may have won the battle in court, but in real terms, the debtor has indeed won the war."

Maybe she'll be one of the 80% of judgments which are never collected.

http://www.discoverassets.com/background.htm

[gregemm]

I don't believe so, and it is more of a curiosity at this point.

I completely understand, too, I certainly wouldn't call them up and fight something that's currently a non-issue (Aside from the credit reporting of it..) It makes total sense, why spend time trying to track someone down when I am sure they have plenty of people they can go after without all the extra work..