Understanding Judgments. Your day in court

In this article we'll assume you showed up for mediation but no settlement was reached. The system works this way. On the day of your court appearance, you most probably will be asked to report to the Small Claims Court at 8:30 AM.

Now when you're in the courtroom and you see the judge walk in you might think he has jurisdiction. Ths is not the case. The judge only has jurisdiction over the "contents of the case". When any important document in the case is missing, then the judge does NOT have jurisdiction. This is a very important point to remember. The important things to know is that fo a case to have all the requirements for jurisdiction the following are required:

1. Complaint
2. Proof of Service (you must have been served with the summons)
3. Affidavit from the person that approved your original loan or contract or their personal appearance in court.
4. Certified copy of your original contract evidencing your signature contracting for goods or services.

If any of these documents are lacking then a judgment can be voided in its entirety. Many times when a default judgment is awarded, the attorney is basically lazy and hopes the opposing party won't show up in court.

Remember, when you do enter into a mediation agreement, this does not enter into your credit files. You and the opposing party have simply agreed to settle your differences. The mediator will write a letter to the court advising the court of his decision. This mediation agreement MUST be followed up. You MUST do what you promised. If you fail to follow the directives of the mediation agreement, the entire judgment now reappears and you are now the loser. So there is both pro and con to agreeing to mediation. REMEMBER. Do not hit yourself in the thumb making this decision. If you want to clean up your credit to the point where you qualify for a home mortgage loan in Florida, South Carolina, or Alaska you have to follow up.

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