judgement creditor

I could be wrong, but it sounds like someone is going to be assessing the worth of your personal belongings.

Judgment is on the way. You have to take care of this debt with your creditor. Keep in mind, judgments can be renewed by your creditor and this can hang over your head until paid. You need to take this matter seriously. Court actions are possible so you need to sit with an attorney and prepare your defense.

this is a legal action, requiring someone to present themselves at court at the time specified on the document presented to them, in order to provide proof of assets due to a judgement being unsatisfied.

If I'm wrong, someone please correct me, but that's what I found when searching for this term. Here's where I found it:

http://www.illinoislegalaid.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_content&contentid=24

Guest, do you by any chance live in one of the non-garn states...Pa, the Carolinas, or Texas?

Here in Illinois at least, a citation is a very powerful tool that a creditor can use to collect on a judgment. A citation cannot be issued until a judgment is awarded, so if you received a citation then there is a judgment against you already.

A citation is a creditor's levergage to enforce a judgment. They are basically telling the judge that a) there is a judgment against you, b) you have not taken care of the judgement willingly, so c) they want interogate you to see what you have that they can take to satisfy the judgement.

A citation must be served, just like a summons. When served, it does two things. First and foremost, it freezes all of your assets (bank accounts, etc.) and demands that you not touch or otherwise conceal those assets. If you receive a citation, and then go withdrawal all the money out of your checking account to "hide" it from the creditor you can be charged with contempt of court, which can yield jail time.

The second thing a citation does it to demand your appearance in court, to answer questions that the creditor may ask you: where do you work, where are your bank accounts, what property do you own, etc. The creditor can then attach your assets to the judgment, and take them as payment.

If you do not appear in court to answer the questions, the judge will issue a Rule to Show Cause. Meaning a new court date is set, and you are demanded to appear with a good reason why you didn't show the first time. If you do not show up on a Rule, you will be in contempt and the judge can execute a body writ by issuing a warrant for your arrest.

Like I said, a citation is very powerful and you should not ignore it. The citation itself does not affect your credit, but the underlying judgment does get reported for up to 10 years until it is paid.

Did you have a default judgment in small claims? Sounds like someone back-doored you in small claims, meaning they filed the Complaint but failed to send a copy of the Complaint or the notice of the hearing to you. The citation is a legal tool that is utilized by the court to discover assets only after a judgment has been rendered. Check into this asap. If you find that a default judgment has been rendered by the court within the last 30 days, but you were never notified of the Complaint filed in court, you have 30 days to petition the court to set aside the judgment. The petitioner (creditor) would have to refile the petition and give you the opportunity to present your defense to the court. If you set it aside, and you are afraid of your checking account being frozen, move your money into a prepaid cash card. However, most creditors do not go after bank accounts. They garnish wages. Look into this asap. It would be worth it to get the judgment set aside so you can buy some time to make arrangements to pay the debt. When the new hearing comes up, ask to mediate the debt with the creditor. Small claims is huge on mediation.

i sued a party for a accident right after they recieved notice of the lawsuit they sold a paid for home i am about to get a judgement on them can i recover the proceeds from the home sale?

i sued a party for a accident right after they recieved notice of the lawsuit they sold a paid for home i am about to get a judgement on them can i recover the proceeds from the home sale?

If the home is already sold before the judgement was rendered, you dont have the power of a lein.