Question:
Can the court hold me in contempt or put me in jail if I have not paid a money judgment on a credit card lawsuit?
My response:
There are a handful of stories circulating in the media and on the internet about debt collectors getting orders to hold a non-paying judgment debtor in contempt. A California Superior court would only issue a contempt order, if the judgment debtor fails to obey an order of the court, after being properly notified of such order. For instance, after being served with an order to appear to appear for an examination of their finances, the court may request the sheriff to bring the person who failed to appear into court for contempt of the order to appear.
Some people confuse court documents and jargon, which results in missing important deadlines and mandatory court appearances. My firm’s web site has PDFs of sample documents, so people can see what are typical documents used in Superior Court cases to collect a credit card debt, by some of the debt collection law firms in California. Here’s the link to these documents directly: Sample Court Documents
There are a few other instances in which consumer run afoul of court rules that can add to the total amount due on a debt collection judgment, which is the reason the web site’s video on the “Six Options” tries to discourage people from trying to represent themselves, as there are ways to make matters worse in a case.
Robert Stempler, Attorney at Law
www.StopCollectionLawsuits.com
Tags: California Superior Court, contempt, credit card lawsuit, debt collection lawsuit, debt collection lawyers, default judgment, DIY debt collection defense, money judgment