If you’ve been sued for credit-card debt in New Jersey and you’re trying to decide what to do, you will need to know how New Jersey debt-collection judgments work.
Pay Attention To The Lawsuit Timeline
If you’ve been sued for debt collection in New Jersey, you should pay close attention to the timeline. Look closely at the papers you received – the first papers, the ones that start a lawsuit, are the summons and the complaint. The summons should be on the front. It may look like a mostly pre-printed form that has been filled in here and there. In some kinds of lawsuits, you will see a date somewhere in the middle of that form that is the date your written answer is due. In other kinds of lawsuits, there won’t be a date in the middle of the summons.
Which Part Of The Court Is The Lawsuit In?
The two main kinds of debt-collection lawsuits in New Jersey are those that are filed in Special Civil Part and those that are not. Ways to tell the difference is that in Special Civil Part lawsuits: 1) The plaintiff will be seeking $15,000 or less (it could be a little more with attorney fees added on); 2) The docket number will have “DC” in it; 3) The upper right-hand corner of the complaint will have “Special Civil Part” in the name of the court.
Special Civil Part vs. Law Division
Most credit-card debt-collection lawsuits that are not in Special Civil Part are situated in regular Law Division. You’ll need to look closely at the papers you receive, since the Special Civil Part lawsuits will say “Law Division” on them, but if they also say “Special Civil Part,” that means they’re not in the regular Law Division. Regular Law Division lawsuits seek to collect more than $15,000 and their docket numbers have “L” in them instead of “DC”.
Small Claims Part
Note that yet another category of lawsuit in this area could be small claims lawsuits, which have “SC” in the docket number, but this type isn’t typically used for credit-card debt collection. Small claims lawsuits typically less than $3,000 in dispute, most often involving parties who are not represented by attorneys.
Why It Matters Which Part The Lawsuit Is In
The reason it’s important to distinguish Special Civil Part collection lawsuits from regular Law Division lawsuits is that the procedure for obtaining a judgment against the defendant is a little different for each type of lawsuit.
Service Of Special Civil Part Lawsuits
As mentioned above, the first thing that happens in Special Civil Part lawsuits is that each defendant receives service of the Summons and the Complaint, usually by mail from the courthouse. The documents are sent via both certified mail, return receipt requested and regular mail. If both of these pieces of mail are returned to the court, service was not good. If at least one of them does not get returned, the court deems that as good service.
So if you’re trying to dodge service, it doesn’t do you any good to ignore the certified mail that’s waiting for you at the post office.
What Happens If You Don’t Respond
You’ll get 35 days – until the date listed on the front middle portion of the Summons – to file your written answer to the court along with proper payment of the filing fee and to send a copy to the other side. If you don’t file the answer by the answer date, the Special Civil Part automatically “enters default” against you. All this means is that the court is recognizing that you did not file a timely answer.
How New Jersey Debt-Collection Judgments Work
Then, after the court enters default against you, the other side (the plaintiff) can file a request or a motion to enter judgment against you for the full amount of money that they are seeking to collect.
You might receive a copy of this request or motion or you might not, depending on circumstances. The timing here is almost entirely dependent on the efficiency of the attorney representing the plaintiff. Some attorneys get these papers in to the court on the first possible date and some attorneys let the case lapse for 6 months or more. Most fall somewhere in between. It can help to know the practices of the various attorneys’ offices.
What If Nothing Happens?
If the case lapses for 6 months with no judgment, the court will administratively dismiss the case. That doesn’t mean you win. Administrative dismissal only means the court wants to get the case off its active rolls as quickly as possible. The other side can always file a motion to revive the case.
How New Jersey Debt-Collection Judgments Get Collected
Once the other side gets its judgment, they can start filing motions with the court to allow them to collect on the judgment, usually via wage garnishment or bank levy.
How Law Division Differs
If the case is in regular Law Division, the procedure is similar, but not exactly the same. The main difference is that the other side must file papers with the court asking it to enter default against you, declaring that you did not timely file a written answer.
Then, once they get their entry of default, the rest of the procedure is the same – the other side files papers requesting a judgment against you. And once the judgment is entered, they can start trying to collect.
What To Do When You Get A Lawsuit
Once you receive a lawsuit, you should start paying close attention to the timeline outlined above. Seek attorney help as soon as possible, either to help you file a written answer and continue defending against the lawsuit, or to settle it, or maybe even both. You’ll need to provide an attorney with a full copy of the papers and tell them everything you think you might know about the underlying facts of the lawsuit.
If you’ve been sued in New Jersey and you need help, call (201) 676-0722 to schedule a free telephone consultation with attorney Jennifer Weil, or go to my Setmore page.
