Real income of U.S. households continues to fall. See e.g. FED report (April 6, 2015). One solution for folks, wishing not to downgrade their lifestyle, was to go into debt, including consumer credit or “credit card” debt. Id. But, with increased credit card debt, coupled with failure to increase real incomes, the inevitable outcome is the failure to pay. Throwing someone into jail for failure to pay debt is not a popular tool in the United States. (Unpopular does not mean improbable. See Debtors’ prison Wikipedia post) For banks, one way to get their money back, is to seek enforcement through court judgment, and then hunt debtor’s bank assets, if any. One example of such bank collection activity is Information Subpoena and Restraining Notice. The problem with such collection activity, from alleged debtor’s vantage point, can be his or hers lack of awareness that the action has ever been commenced. By the time s/he receives the notice, the judgment is entered. Judgment also shows up on the credit report and negatively affects the score, making all further credit transactions more expensive. What can be done by the alleged debtor in post-judgment stage to improve his or hers position? Perhaps,…
Read More Vacating / Reopening Default Judgment in Consumer Credit Actions in New York
