I was sued in small claims court in Oklahoma by a small loan company. I showed up for court, appearing before the judge and was told (along with others who had appeared as well), because there were too many people on the docket he wanted everyone to go outside with their plaintiff, work out some kind of payment arrangements and not too come back in until we were able to come to some agreement. The plaintiff representing the loan company (suing me) stated that she wasn't authorized to do that so I would have to call the manager herself. I signed a statement verifying that I showed up in court, protecting myself from a default judgment. Long story short after calling numerous times and even making a personal trip to the actual long company to try and work out a plan, I was told to come back within a day or two but before I could do that I received in the mail a signed JUDGEMENT from this same creditor against me for a different amount then what I was being sued for in small claims court and to top that I just found out that my wages are being garnished... is this legal? What recourse do I have? How can they get what appears to be a pre-judgment against me if I didn't get a chance to work out anything with them? I called the loan company once more after receiving in the judgment and was told it was too late they had filed a garnishment against my wages. I went to the courthouse seeking questions and was only told that the only thing I could do was fill out a hardship form, then wait for the hearing, so I did. Was this judgment even legal in the first place, since myself and the plaintiff representing the loan company were instructed to work out an agreement amongst ourselves?

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Originally Posted by fightthepower

I was sued in small claims court in Oklahoma by a small loan company. I showed up for court, appearing before the judge and was told (along with others who had appeared as well), because there were too many people on the docket he wanted everyone to go outside with their plaintiff, work out some kind of payment arrangements and not too come back in until we were able to come to some agreement. The plaintiff representing the loan company (suing me) stated that she wasn't authorized to do that so I would have to call the manager herself. I signed a statement verifying that I showed up in court, protecting myself from a default judgment. long story short after calling numerous times and even making a personal trip to the actual long company to try and work out a plan, I was told to come back within a day or two but before I could do that I received in the mail a signed JUDGEMENT from this same creditor against me for a different amount then what I was being sued for in small claims court and to top that I just found out that my wages are being garnished...is this legal? what recourse do I have? How can they get what appears to be a pre-judgment against me if I didnt get a chance to work out anything with them? I called the loan company once more after receiving in the judgment and was told it was too late they had filed a garnishment against my wages. I went to the courthouse seeking questions and was only told that the only thing I could do was fill out a hardship form, then wait for the hearing, so I did. Was this judgment even legal in the first place, since myself and the plaintiff representing the loan company were instructed to work out an agreement amongst ourselves?

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This doesn't make sense. Do you have a copy of what you signed at the initial hearing? A new court date would have been assigned if you and the plaintiff's attorney were not able to work out an agreement.

There is no such thing as a "pre-judgment." Either they have a judgment or they don't - it appears that they do.

Are you absolutely positive that you didn't miss a court date? Is there a way to find out if there was a hearing scheduled which you missed, resulting in a default judgment?

You need to get a copy of the order given to your employer. It will contain the court and docket # as well as the judge that signed the order. You then go back to the court and ask how this happened when you have been trying to work out a settlement but the plaintiff won't cooperate.