I got a letter in the mail telling me I had to call small claims court in 10 days or I would have a thing out for my arrest so I called. The lady at the court house tells me its about me not appearing for a case on a lady suing me for some personal property and I had failed to appear the previous 2 times. But the problem is I never received the paper work to appear and because I didn't appear the judge automatically awarded the plaintiff the win and therefore a judgement was entered against me. The paper work was all sent to 2 different addresess that I have never lived or worked at so I finally appear today and the judge wanted to know why I wasn't paying and I told him I wasn't aware of any of this till now and he didn't want to hear it. Told me he's not the judge that did the judgement it was a different judge and he couldn't do anything about it what do I need to do now

I would talk to a lawyer jusat to save your butt and so you don't get put in jail...

This kind of judgment, called judgment by default, is entered for your failure to appear. But if you have a meritorious defense such as you were honest to goodness didn't receive any notice from the court - speak with an attorney to help you work out to have the judgment set aside. And that is immediately, time is of the essence.