Q: I have a judgement against me by consent allegedly entered by my defense attorney, I don't have an attorney
I have never heard of this attorney that allegedly represented me, I have not gone to court over this matter, but apparently a hearing was held and an attorney seems to have claimed to represent me, and consented to a judgement against me, and agreed on my behalf for me to repay the money. But still it is closer to the truth to say that there should be a judgement by default against me which is better? Is there any difference? Could the case be thrown out because of fraud?
A: Yes. If you did not agree it can be set aside. You'll need to file a motion with the court that granted the judgment and mail a copy to the creditor's attorney and the "defense attorney"
A: If you can verify this information, then you could go back into the same court that issued the judgement and motion that the court to set aside the judgement. Usually you have 1 year from the date the judgment was entered.
A: The case won't be thrown out because of fraud. However, I find it odd that a lawyer made this agreement without your knowledge or consent. You need to find the identity of this lawyer and contact him/her immediately. Once you get the factual background then you can properly take action to either try to vacate the Judgment or negotiate a settlement. Also, a default judgment is more likely to go on your credit report than a consent judgment. I would take a look at your current credit reports.
A:
Here's the thing: if you owe the money, a consent judgment is typically better than a default judgment. A default judgment would mean that you owe everything your creditor says you owe (plus interest), whereas a consent judgment typically involves some compromise (i.e. instead of owing the $5,000 we say you owe, we'll agree to accept $4,000 as the total amount). Sometimes, though, consent judgments involve a payment obligation, and if you default on that, a different judgment is entered.
To set aside a judgment, you usually also must show that you have a meritorious defense. Your case is most unusual if in fact an attorney claimed to be representing you and your interests but you have no idea about it. As a practical matter, I don't know any attorney who would do even the relatively limited amount of work required to enter into a consent judgment without being compensated by someone. And so if you were not paying anyone to settle this matter, I am unsure how that happened. But as others said, look into it. If you contact the court where the judgment is entered, you can ask to see the register of actions, which should indicate the attorneys involved.
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