What can REALLY be done to you after Judgent in NC

In a breech of contract complaint, it's not up to a judge to determine what's "fair and reasonable" (a judge does, however, have discretion to rule something as unconscionable). If their contract and finance charges are compliant with applicable laws, then the judge is obligated to render judgment for the full amount of their complaint. Unless you get a stipulation, whereby the attorney for the creditor agrees to reduce the judgment amount.

The court has many remedies available to injured parties, such as garnishment, attachment, levy, etc -- which you've already mentioned are not feasible since you don't have assets and NC is a non-garnishment state.

I'm not sure what other remedies may be available in NC. In IL we have a tool called a "Citation to Discover Assets". When a Citation is issued, the debtor is required to come into court and answer under oath any income/assets that they have. If they don't show up to court the first time, the judge will issue a "Rule to Show Cause (as to why contempt should not be issued for failure to appear)". This gives the debtor another chance to show up with a good reason for not showing up the first time. If they don't show up after a Rule is issued, the judge will execute a body writ and issue a bench warrant for arrest.

In a case like yours, I like to use these Citations. Mainly because most people don't show up to court and end up getting arrest warrants. Subsequently, after the sheriff picks them up, they have to post bond to get out of jail. The court then hands over the bond money to the creditor as payment toward the debt.

In the least, it irritates the debtor to have to come into court and answer interrogatories. We can issue a Citation once per year, more than that and it's considered harrassment. The rationale being that some debtors will pay off the judgment just so we stop calling them in on citation every year.

Read up on your Rules of Civil Procedure to see all what options are available; usually it will be under some heading like "Enforcement of Judgments" or "Remedies", etc.

As to SOL on judgments, I'm not sure in NC. Again you can check the RCP for NC. In IL judgments are good for 10 years ... BUT after 10 years the judgment can be renewed for another 10 years, and so on. Theoretically, if the creditor goes in every 10 years to renew, it could remain enforceable for the rest of your life.

SO, Your basically saying, in the end they are going to get the same ruling if I show up or not ?????? Unless one of these CA's mess up paperwork somewhere along the way or let the SOL pass by accident they have free wheeling power.

Its a damn shame this type of activity is legal. I guess my only hope to get away from giving them 400% return on their investment now is chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Welcome to world, now bend over and say thankyou :-(

Recently my friend went through a court hearing in Forsyth county NC with a debt collector. Since the lawyer which will show is just a hire for hour atty they will not be prepped at all for the case. We ask for a continuance stating we were working with the lawyer on a settlement but had not finished paperwork or terms. The judge granted a continuance without any questions after asking the lawyer what was going on with the settlement and him having no answers or paperwork just looked stupid. This happened 3 more times (explaining the same thing each time as in NC the judges are rotated out each month). The collection agency finally offered to accept his offer of 31% the original debt as it was too much of a headache for them to deal with and pay for. It worked for him and it may work for you. Just a though.......

Thank you very much for the info, I will try this. The best part it is the absolute truth.

A collector is not even required to settle for less than the amount due, as long as the charges are legitimate. It is not up to the judge to tell them to accept less. It sounds like they figure to have a very strong case, so that even if you show up, they will win.

Well here is how my day at court went. I was #44 in the list of #88 cases on the docket. They called my case right after lunch 2:00pm.

The lawyer there for Sessoms & Rogers had at least 45 of these cases! Just as DebtCruncher said, the Judge made no decisions based on fairness, only whether or not the paperwork was filed properly and timely.

So, I decided to attack Sessoms & Rogers instead of pleading poverty and being unable to pay. I told him how I have tried to settle but, S&R had been unresponsive to my offers until 2:30 Friday! Two hours before close of business and the Friday before a Monday court date. After 8 months of trying my best to settle this without a lawyer. This is what I get, a rushed offer with no details and no chance to ask questions. Also told him that I would like time to get a lawyer involved in my case.

He granted a "Delay in Judgment" and went to the next case with no explanation of what that meant. They did not tell me if the next case is set or if S&R has to ask for another date. The other cases that he deferred were set a date by the clerk in the courtroom. ?????

Before lunch I talked to a Bankruptcy lawyer and told him my situation. He assured me that I was able to file chapter 7 and told me to tell S&R to accept my offer of $6k on the 12K debt before Wednesday or they will get nothing.

I hate to have worked so hard to clear one of these debts just to have a group of PITA lawyers named Sessoms & Rogers force me to declare bankruptcy because they are TOO GREEDY to accept a 43% profit on their investment. BUT at this point I would rather be Bankrupt them see them get a dime.