My bank account was recently levied (in November 2013) and emptied to zero. Upon further research as to why, I discovered my wife had a civi...

Question

My bank account was recently levied (in November 2013) and emptied to zero. Upon further research as to why, I discovered my wife had a civil lawsuit against her filed in December 2011 from a collections agency, and a default judgment entered against her in July 2012. We live in California and have lived in the same county our entire lives. However, the lawsuit was filed in a different county 150 miles away. Draining my bank account has caused a hardship on our family finances. I already filed a Request for Exemption through my local Sheriff-Court Services. I am also going to file a Motion to Vacate with the filing Court. Do I have grounds to do this a full year after the judgment was issued? My claims are: not being properly served a summons, and the plaintiff filed in the wrong court jurisdiction.

Answer

Yes. You also have a claim back against the collections agency if they knowingly filed in the wrong county. That was a nasty trick they used for many years but it was outlawed a decade or so ago.