Judgments do not collect themselves. Experienced collection attorneys have many options to enforce judgments. If the client can supply a bank account or employment information for the debtor, then the attorney can immediately proceed with a levy or wage execution. If not, the New Jersey court rules provide a simple method to try to obtain that information: the information subpoena.
In the recent reported Appellate Division decision in Raji v. Saucedo, the trial court determination barring a tenant’s counterclaim against the landlord was upheld. The facts were that the landlord filed an eviction action for non-payment of rent. On the trial date, the parties negotiated an agreement that the tenant would make some rental payment in exchange for being allowed to remain in the house for a couple of months. That agreement was entered by the court as a consent judgment.
Our client, a North Carolina resident, was driving on the New Jersey Turnpike in the early morning hours when she was rear-ended by an Alabama driver. She was seriously injured,
and transported to an area hospital where she underwent surgery and received treatment for her injuries. She contacted me from her hospital bed, and I immediately went to the hospital to meet her and to provide her with advice about her rights against the other driver. She retained me to represent her on her personal injury claim.
I was recently retained by a family to file a lawsuit to compel the State of New Jersey to amend their child’s birth certificate. This was a most unusual request. The child, a New Jersey college athlete, wished to establish dual citizenship with his country of origin in order to be eligible to try out for their national team. The country of origin rejected the initial application because the name of the birth mother on her national ID card did not match her name on her son’s birth certificate. The birth certificate would need to be amended.
A creditor seeking to collect a judgment has many options. It can levy on a bank account, garnish the debtor’s wages or seek to sell any real estate owned by the debtor. However, there are rules and limitations on that process.
A last will and testament will usually designate an executor to carry out the decedent’s wishes. Upon death, the will is submitted to the county surrogate for probate. At the same time, the executor qualifies and is issued letters testamentary, and then may act on behalf of the estate.
When a tenant moves out of an apartment but leaves personal belongings behind, the landlord may not dispose of the property without giving the tenant an opportunity to return to the apartment and remove the belongings. This applies even if the tenant owes rent and even if the tenant was legally evicted by the court.
In New Jersey, a law called the Abandoned Tenant Property Statute requires landlords to give written notice to former tenants if the landlord wants to dispose of property left by the tenants after they have moved out. The notice must state that the landlord considers the property left behind abandoned.
As we have often said, the success or failure of a personal injury case will come down to the facts. A recent unreported Appellate Division decision in a slip and fall case makes that clear.
The plaintiff tripped over an uneven sidewalk abutting the defendant homeowners’ property. She alleged that she tripped because of the elevation of the sidewalk slab and the decorative white stones that had spilled on the sidewalk obscuring the elevation of the sidewalk.
(This according to the J. Geils Band song of the same name.) “And may lead to litigation…”
A recent unreported Appellate Division decision involved parties that were romantically involved.
The plaintiff purchased property and built a house. Prior to the closing, the parties executed an agreement in which plaintiff promised to deed the house into both of their names as joint tenants with the right of survivorship and that defendant would have no financial obligations for the home. The parties executed and recorded the deed before they began living in the house.
In merry olde England, the King was the law. Whatever he said went. Eventually, a second branch of law developed around litigants bringing petitions to the King’s Chancellor, seeking exceptions to the King’s laws. This second branch is the precursor of our present day Chancery Division of the New Jersey Superior Court. The Chancellor was considered to be the “keeper of the King’s conscience”.
