Posted: 9/5/2009 10:28:47 AM EDT
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So, say someone gets sued by a collection agency for credit card debt. They get a court date, go to court, and no one from/for collection agency shows up. The judge dismissed the case.
~2 months later, the collection agency and their lawyers try again. I figure the court and the judge wouldn't be very pleased the first time the other side decided not to show. Can they summon the person in question a second time for the same thing as the first time? |
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Depends on whether the case was dismissed with or without prejudice, and on whether the debtor has run up additional charges that the creditor is suing over.
I haven't heard about it from the side you describe, since usually it's the debtor who doesn't show up. In that case, the creditor gets a default judgment against the debtor. In your friends' case, as long as they argued that they didn't owe the debt, or otherwise persuaded the judge to throw out the case on the merits, the judge would pretty much have to rule against the creditor, and the creditor shouldn't be able to bring another action. (This is basically how we lost Miller.) However, if they just shrugged and went home, it's possible that the judge didn't make any ruling on the issue and that the creditor isn't precluded. Short answer: I don't know. Sorry, man. |
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Quoted:
Depends on whether the case was dismissed with or without prejudice, and on whether the debtor has run up additional charges that the creditor is suing over. I haven't heard about it from the side you describe, since usually it's the debtor who doesn't show up. In that case, the creditor gets a default judgment against the debtor. In your friends' case, as long as they argued that they didn't owe the debt, or otherwise persuaded the judge to throw out the case on the merits, the judge would pretty much have to rule against the creditor, and the creditor shouldn't be able to bring another action. (This is basically how we lost Miller.) However, if they just shrugged and went home, it's possible that the judge didn't make any ruling on the issue and that the creditor isn't precluded. Short answer: I don't know. Sorry, man. Thanks for your answer. Long story made short, a relative ran themselves aground with debt, the various debts were sold to collection agencies. He paid off the collection agencies as he could, and "forgot" (that's what he says; I say bullshit) about one, the one that's taking him to court now. I don't know if the case was dismissed with prejudice or without, and no additional debt or charges have been run up that I know of. |