How To Look Up the Legal Documents In Your Case
What is a Civil Judgment in Minnesota?
- A judgment is a court’s official decision on how to resolve a controversy between two parties. Usually this means that the court orders one party to pay money to the other party. Winning a Judgment does not automatically cause the debt to get paid.
- In Minnesota, most judgments are awarded to debt collectors for unpaid credit cards, cell phone bills, repossessions, bank loans, and medical bills.
- Most judgments are “default judgments” which means that the judge decided the winner because one side didn’t do anything to fight the lawsuit. The court system expects people to fight the lawsuits BEFORE there is a judgment.
- A default judgment is often still valid even if you didn’t know about it. The Plaintiff only has to serve it on a responsible adult at the Defendant’s last known address. This can be handing it to a roommate or leaving it with someone claiming to be you.
- A judgment allows the Plaintiff to garnish up to 25% of the net of the Defendant’s paycheck and to freeze any bank accounts with the Defendant’s name on them.
- A judgment is automatically a lien on any land or houses you own in the county.
- A judgment lasts for 10 years and can be renewed for another 10 years.