How Collections Agencies Get Easy Default Judgements

One of the most powerful weapons that a creditor has when attempting to collect their debt is to reduce the debt to a legal judgment. Once the creditor has a judgment, they can garnish bank accounts, take wages, and so on. Usually this process involves filing a lawsuit, going to court, having a judge hear what everyone has to say and then issuing a judgment (or not) based on the facts. Before the trial, the parties have the right to ask for documents, called "discovery", or ask questions of the other side, called "depositions", to make sure that all the facts are available to the judge before the trial. This process can be long and expensive.

So what if a creditor could just sidestep that process? What if they could forget about all the expensive discovery and trial process and just get a judgment against you? That's what's called a "default judgment". If they file a lawsuit, and you don't answer, then they automatically get what they are asking for, at least most of the time.''