I just received a letter in the mail that I owe AT&T $5,300.00 which was five years previous. Now I had relocated out of the State of New York for the past eight months and just returned. How much time would I have to dispute this judgment? Can they freeze my bank account or garnish my wages for this judgment. I also was not the one who ran up this bill. What should I do. I was never served papers.

You need to go to the court where the judgement was entered and get the details, then appeal the judgement. In the meantime, they can attach your bank account and/or garnish your wages.

Yes, I did. Thank you. Is there a time limit that I can appeal this judgment. I am in the state of NY.

Not sure about the time limit, the court clerk or your atty can advise.

If you weren't the one who ran up the bill then why are you responsible? If the account is in your name, then you're responsible even if you personally didn't make the calls, etc. As for garnishments, etc. they can't do that until they've actually obtained a judgment against you in court. Unless the transactions charged against your account never happened, regardless of who actually did it, you're ultimately responsible for payment, Your best bet may be to try and negotiate a repayment deal with them, in exchange for them not taking legal action or reporting you as deliquent to credit bureaus, etc. then stick to it.

From your post it appears while you were not living in the state they got a judgement against you. They could have attached your bank account or garnished you pay even if you were not living in state. But yes they can if they already have the judgement.

After they have the judgement ( I believe they are good for 10 years there) * did not look it up but from memory.
So you need to get with the person who made them and see if they will help you pay this off, but if your name is on the account and they were legally made you can be held responsible.