Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Illinois

renter civil judgement

Back in 2001 I lived in an apartment complex and was followed home. The men who followed me sat in the parking lot all night and i woke up to a broken sliding glass door and another day a hand axe in my door. I felt scared for my life and let the aprtment manager know I wanted extra locks put on my door and a new door after i found that the people were tenants on the same rental property. They refused and I asked to terminate my lease because i was scred for my life. They refused. I consulted a lawyer for free and he said if I was scared for my life that i should leave if they would not cooperate. So that is what i did. That was when i was 18. I have rented since then in another state and have had no problems and recently found there was a judgement against me. I recieved no notice and have always used a change of address form. I am in desperation in getting this taken off my credit. Please help.


Asked on 2/19/07, 6:07 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

David Anderson Anderson Business Law LLC

Re: renter civil judgement

It might be time to actually pay for some legal advice. If there is a JUDGMENT you will have to move the court to REOPEN. The ability to do this will depend on a number of factors.

Call or email for additional help.

I will need to know all details re: judgment amount, court of venue and the original creditor.

I have 25 years of experience with debtor creditor and landlord/tenant law.

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Answered on 2/19/07, 6:41 pm
Burton Padove Indiana and Illinois Lawyer, Burton A. Padove

Re: renter civil judgement

You will need a lawyer licensed in Illinois to help you as vacating a judgment is a complicated matter. You will need to obtain proof that you always had a forwarding address and have an attorney look at the court file to determine how they allegedly served you. Assuming that you were not served properly, you will then have to prove your defense, that you were constructively evicted. I hope you also made a police report at the time of the events. Also, depending on the entire cost, it may be less expensive for you to pay the judgment or offer a compromise to the attorney representing the creditor. If possible you would want an agreement to vacate the judgment and then a dismissal for lets say 50% of the judgment arguing to the attorney that service was improper. Regardless, you need to hire an attorney. Good luck.

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Answered on 2/20/07, 9:08 am


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