Q: Can a judge lower the amount owed on a debt if a verbal deal was already made with collections prior to the court date?
I made a deal with Nathan & Nathan for 3 installments in return for them to settle the debt and drop the judgement. Only papers were served, no judgement was awarded yet. So I'm wondering if when I show up to court on the date in my served papers if judges (ever do or can) still lower the owed amount since a verbal agreement was already made by me with Nathan & Nathan? I'm not sure if this is a good plan or not, but my thoughts are to bring evidence to court that I paid the first installment. I also have a recording of Nathan & Nathan stating our verbal agreement that I could bring as well. Nathan & Nathan said they postponed the judgement to December, and said since it will all be settled in October, they will then file a Motion to Dismissal at which time the judgement attempt would be dropped. Thoughts? Thank you so much for your help on this too! Blessings! =)
A: Judges are not likely to change the terms of the agreement. And, depending on the terms of the agreement, they may have no authority to do so.
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