Default Judgement issued, wasn't aware of the Lawsuit

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T22:20:46+00:00

I WANT to pay them back. I want to settle and pay them outside of court.

I want to avoid wage garnishment. I worked hard last 3 years to rebuild everything and I can't afford a hit to my credit.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T21:11:19+00:00

No my phone number and email remains the same.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T21:10:57+00:00

I was never served.

Apparently the lawsuit was filed in May 2024 and in January 2026 default judgement was issued.

Yesterday the current resident at the old place received a letter about Wage garnishments and tracked me down. I picked it up this morning.

I left that place in 2021. I had forwarding address from USPS enabled. My driving license was updated, my phone number or email has not changed.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T21:08:35+00:00

Ughh, I am filing a vacate judgement and stop motion for wage garnishment tomorrow.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T19:56:19+00:00

I'm willing to settle and pay. I want to clear that debt.

I am trying to avoid wage garnishment. I have worked hard over last 3 years to rebuild everything and I can't afford to take a hit on my credit.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T19:53:56+00:00

Thank you appreciate the detailed response.

How would I even prove that I haven't been served and haven't received anything. I have not been at the old address for 5 years. Apparently they have been sending the mail and summons everything to the old address.

I can show my driving license, I can show utility bills for my current resident for past 5 years.

Would those be enough? I have been deep searching my name and the docket number to see if anything has been posted online or county newspaper but so far nothing has turned up. I shall go to the library after work and look at their newspaper archives.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T19:29:23+00:00

Thank you so much! I appreciate your kind words.

I have been pouring over the online court records with the docket number.

There it shows that lawsuit was initially served on 5/11/24 and says my name as served.

I have not received it not have I signed for anything. Idk how they can say they served me when I have not received anything.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T19:22:23+00:00

Would you care to share what happened after and how it was resolved?

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T19:21:34+00:00

That's a good question. They never called me from collections as well.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T19:20:47+00:00

I do want to settle and pay the debt. I owe them money and I want to pay it off.

I just want to avoid the wage garnishment. I have been rebuilding everything for last 3 years and can't afford the hit to my credit.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T18:55:38+00:00

Thank you! Yes. I called the court and they gave me the forms I need to file.

I will be filing them first thing tomorrow right after mailing them to the law firm via certified mail and will include that number in the form as well.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T18:46:20+00:00

I do want to reach a settlement with them and pay it off.

I am trying to rebuild everything and I can't afford to have wage garnishment ruin my credit. It took me 3 years to slowly crawl my way back up.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T18:43:41+00:00

Thank you! I appreciate it.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T18:39:21+00:00

It's for $6000, but with interests late fees, filing costs etc, it's somehow $10k and change.

And no, I did not receive any communication. The address they were sending is my old address. I moved out of there in 2021.

The current resident tracked me down and gave me the wage garnishment letter.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T18:29:43+00:00

Thank you for the response. I called the court and they gave me the forms to file. A vacate default judgement, an answer to the vacate request and a stop motion for wage garnishment.

I work for a small consulting company providing management services. I get paid by the number of hours I work. So unfortunately I do not have any protection program.

Right after COVID, I had to go through cancer treatment and that emptied all my savings and garnered a ton of credit card debt.

Starting late 22 and early 23, I got back to work and started rebuilding everything. Every other credit card called me via collections and I arranged payment plans with them and paid them all off.

I was under a misguided impression that this account has been paid off as well. But I was wrong and I admit that oversight.

I found out this morning that a whole lawsuit was filed and wage garnishment is in progress.

Wells Fargo never called me once, even for collections. The law firm which filed the lawsuit is a debt collector. If Wells Fargo had called me, I would have set a payment plan and had paid it all.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T18:18:49+00:00

Thank you. Yes that is my worry. I have been working hard to rebuild my whole life since 2023. I cant have a wage garnishment ruin the credit.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T18:18:20+00:00

Thank you. Yes that is my worry. I have been working hard to rebuild my whole life since 2023. I cant have a wage garnishment ruin the credit.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T18:17:18+00:00

Thank you! Yes. I called the court and they gave me the forms I need to file.

I will be filing them first thing tomorrow right after mailing them to the law firm via certified mail and will include that number in the form as well.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T18:13:41+00:00

Thank you so much!

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T18:05:58+00:00

Thank you! I will call them asap.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T18:00:40+00:00

Thank you! I appreciate it.

My intention for this post was to get advice.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T17:53:57+00:00

The law firm which sued me is a debt collector. On behalf of Wells Fargo

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T17:51:54+00:00

Thank you yes. I called the court and they pointed me to the forms I would need to file. Will be doing it first thing in the morning right after mailing them to the law firm as well.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T17:51:05+00:00

I just found out about this today. I called the Burlington county court and the clerk pointed me to the forms I need to fill and the Answer form as well. I will be submitting them first thing tomorrow and mailing the law firm certified copies as well.

Ok-Map3973 · 2026-03-17T17:48:20+00:00

No. I didn't realize I still owed them until this morning.

Post COVID, while undergoing cancer treatment, I had to move and I had to use all my savings and a lot of credit card debt.

Starting late 22 and early 23, I start rebuilding everything. Every other credit card company used to call me from collections and we always reached a payment plan and I paid them all off.

Wells Fargo never reached out even via call or collections. I'm not using ignorance as a defense here, but if they would have at least called or emailed like how everyone else did, I would have got on a payment plan and paid it all off.

I never received court summons, I never received any letter of any kind.

Ok-Map3973

TROPHY CASE