Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Can judgment from a sister state be removed?

It depends on the nature of the judgment, your involvement in the litigation, and the extent to which your involvement in the lawsuit arises from your presence in or activity affecting the other state.

Judgments in other states are enforceable in California under the Uniform Sister State Judgment Act. I don't believe this act applies to small claims judgments, but it does to all other judgments, and the only ground of attack is whether the court in the other state had personal jurisdiction over you. If you appeared in and unsuccessfully defended the other lawsuit, your only recourse is to appeal the judgment in the other state. If the judgment against you was by default, then the questions are (a) were you properly served (how did you find out about the lawsuit?), and (b) did the other state have personal jurisdiction over you (did you live there or do business there at the time? Did the lawsuit arise out of some act that impacted someone while in that other state?)

Re: Can judgment from a sister state be removed?

No. No state can alter the judgments of other states' courts in any way. If you want to fight this judgment you must do so in the state where it was (or will be) entered.

Re: Can judgment from a sister state be removed?

You can fight it here on grounds of jurisdiction only. Should you prove the sister state did not have personal jurisdiction over you, the judgment is void in California. Which raises an interesting issue whether it will be void in the issuing state. I suppose you could file the order in the other state and ask the court in the other state to give full faith and credit to it. But it is possible the sister state court will want to hold its own evidentiary hearing to determine whether it has jurisdiction or not, because if it has jurisdiction, then the State of California had no jurisdiction to determine whether the sister state had jurisdiction or not. Then I suppose the plaintiff could record in California the sister state judgment determining that the sister state has jurisdiction, and around you go again.

Re: Can judgment from a sister state be removed?

It would usually be most unwise to ignore litigation you are aware of, regardless where it is occurring. You are fighting an uphill battle when you already have a judgment against you.

We may be able to assist you in both states. NanceGroup.com

Re: Can judgment from a sister state be removed?

NO. It can not be 'changed' in any way other than in the court that issues it. You theoretically could convince a CA court not to 'enforce' it in CA if you could prove to the CA courts that it was procured thru fraud or other major jurisdictional problem. I wouldn't count on being able to do so. Either deal with it there, or you'll end up having a writ of execution levied on your bank accounts and wages and property here.