What Does It Mean To Vacate A Judgment?

There’s a line in the classic movie, The Producers, when one character says to the other, I lieb you, baby. I lieb you. Now lieb me alone.
The speaker clearly wants the other person to vacate the premises immediately. Leave him alone with an empty space, so to speak.
That’s what it means to vacate a judgment – the entire thing vanishes in a puff of smoke, leaving no judgment behind. The lawsuit remains active, but the clock is turned back so that the judgment is erased.
There are two ways for a creditor to get a judgment against you. They are:

1. A judge can make a ruling that the creditor has proven all aspects of a case against you; or
2. A judge can make a ruling that a creditor is entitled to a judgment because you didn’t fight the lawsuit.

The first way is usually called a judgment on the merits and the second way is called a default judgment.
In both situations, it is possible to get the judgment wiped out as if it never happened.
The process of wiping out a judgment entirely is called vacating the judgment.
SEE ALSO:

• What Does A Judgment Mean?
• Here’s What It Means To Have A Judgment Filed Against You – And What You Can Do About It
• Credit Card Lawsuit – Why You Should Always Fight.
• Here Are Your Options When Served With A Collection Lawsuit

Two Ways To Vacate A Judgment
Just as there are two ways for a creditor to get a judgment against you, there are two ways to have the judgment vacated. They are:

1. Appeal the judgment and have the appeals court render the original judgment void; or
2. Ask the original court to vacate a default judgment so that you can fight the lawsuit.

Grounds For Vacating A Default Judgment In California
Under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 473(b), a judge can vacate a default judgment taken due to mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect so long as the request is made within 6 months of the date of the judgment.
If you didn’t respond to the lawsuit because you were never served, you can file a motion to set aside the default or default judgment and for leave to defend the action. You must serve and file the motion no later than the earlier of the following dates:

• two years after entry of a default judgment against you; or
• 180 days after service on you of a written notice that the default or default judgment has been entered.

If the court finds that your lack of actual notice in time to defend the action was not caused by your avoidance of service or inexcusable neglect, it may set aside the default or default judgment allow you to defend the action.
Vacating A Judgment And The Impact On Your Credit Report
Just because the judgment is vacated doesn’t mean that the lawsuit disappears. In fact, vacating the judgment means that the lawsuit is active once again.
The lawsuit will continue to show up on your credit report, though the judgment will not longer be reported to the credit reporting agencies.
If you win the lawsuit that will be reflected on your credit report. And if you lose, the new judgment will be reported.
Don’t Let It Get That Far
If you get lawsuit papers, either file an Answer or get to a lawyer like me who defends collection actions.
Waiting for a default judgment in the hopes that you can get it vacated isn’t a very good plan of attack. After all, the judge may deny your motion – and then you’ll be sitting with a judgment against you and nobody to blame but yourself.