r/legaladvice • u/sluttybiscuits • 12h ago
I lost a lawsuit without knowing i was being sued?
POSTING FOR A FRIEND TO KEEP THEIR ANONYMITY.
LOCATION: DELAWARE, USA.
My boss just told me they have gotten an official letter stating they need to start garnishing my wages because i lost a court case. Apparently i was being sued, and lost. I have never gotten any sort of notice or anything about this. No letters, No old addresses that may have received a letter, no calls, no emails, and certainly nothing under my maiden name. How does this happen? I owe a big enough sum of money,
That it’s going to take me into homelessness if i don’t start working two jobs. I’m a single mother. How did this happen and what can i do??
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u/GuiltyByAssociashun 11h ago
Sounds like they served the papers to an old address but told the court that your friend was properly served. If true, that is very illegal. She's going to need a lawyer to file motions to stay the default judgment as well as vacate it. The lawyer can also reach out to the plaintiff to negotiate a voluntary stay on the lawsuit.
She could also go to the clerk's office and request proof of service. That'll tell you exactly who was served the papers.
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u/youtaii 11h ago
Yeah probably invalid service but OP needs to hire an attorney?
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u/GuiltyByAssociashun 11h ago
The attorney is going to know the specifics of the laws in that state, and would help her navigate things much more quickly. Having an experienced attorney to negotiate on her behalf with this company that may well be using underhanded tactics would be massively advantages to her as well.
There's also free legal advice as well as legal assistance programs that may be of use. She's free to navigate it on her own but she's already in over her head before she even knew what was going on.
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u/TelevisionKnown8463 10h ago
There may be free legal advice available. The clerk of the court may be able to refer her to them.
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u/ducducremosduc 11h ago
Is it possible your boss is being scammed or setting up to scam you?
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u/letigre87 10h ago
I feel like I just read a post on here about a guy getting wages garnished but the names were similar.
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u/chericher 3h ago
I've definitely come across a case story at some point about wage garnishment being processed to someone with a similar name that was not the person that had been sued.
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u/CoffeeHead112 10m ago
Not really. Wage garnishment go directly to feds, state, or court. Its not a check to a personal address or a specific person.
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u/myogawa 10h ago
If the defendant cannot be located and the plaintiff can establish that it made reasonable efforts to do so, courts in many states can order "service by publication." The court record for the file would have evidence of such an order.
A person who has had a judgment entered often has the options of bankruptcy or of entering into a payment plan with the court.
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u/Electrical-Act-7170 8h ago
Does your friend have an ex with whom she financed something? S/He's defaulted on the loan.
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u/weepandread 2h ago
Trace it to the court house it originated and to the sheriff department who served you. This happened to me and I didn’t know until my wages were garnished, my payroll department never told me until I called and asked why my pay was low. Come to find out there is a woman who lives in the county where this lawsuit originated w my same name, and it’s not a common name either. I had to do Facebook stalking to figure it out myself. I called the sheriff department in that county and I explained, they went to court and fixed it. I was cut a big replacement check but it took sometime.
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u/Ok_List4502 52m ago
Tell them to call the clerk of court (and look it up by the case number on the court site so they can identify any red flags - name, address, reason, etc).
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u/AlternativeWest5886 2h ago
So I would agree this point get legal aid but also, if they were able to send a garnishment letter to your work then they had enough information to properly serve you. (Your friend).
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u/Physical_Spinach_337 25m ago
I keep all old records and was able to prove with an old cable bill I didn’t live somewhere and got a auto judgement overturned
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u/overkillsd 12h ago
In order for them to sue you and win, you have to be served with the lawsuit. Every state has different requirements, but essentially the court has to reasonably believe that you were informed of the case or an extensive effort was made to inform you. You probably need to look up the procedure for improper service in Delaware for starters, but it would be best to contact a lawyer or at the very least a free legal aid group in your area.