Hi there

I just came from small claims court this a.m. I have a judgment on my credit. I asked to have the motion set aside in order to file a defence as I was never served, unfortunately I lost - but here's some info that might help your defence.

A neighboring business to where I worked was served - and the courts still wouldn't set aside my judgment and allow me to file a defence.

For the same judgment - I was served a document that was addressed to my ex husband, I informed the person serving that I was the ex, and that my ex had not resided at this address for 3 years - the judge (this am) still said he was served - that that was proper service - which I know - according to the law is not.

Hopefully you will have a judge with a brain. Here is some of the research I found - about having the judgment set aside - hope it helps.

11.06 The court may set aside the noting in default or default judgment against a party and any step that has been taken to enforce the judgment, on such terms as are just, if the party makes a motion to set aside an the court is satisfied that,
(a) the party has a meritorious defence and a reasonable explanation for the default; and
(b) the motion is made as soon as is reasonably possible in all the circumstances. 0/Reg/ 78/06, s.24.

good luck

@ rutherford

Section 30 of the Courts of Justice Act in Ontario was recently amended regarding the serving of a Statement of Claim.

A claim can be served by "personal service" or by an "alternative to personal service". In one "alternative to personal service", the claim can be served where the person lives by registered mail or courier with proof ( verification by Canada Post or the courier company ) that the document was received.

Previously, for service to be effective, under this method the signature of the defendant verifying receipt of the document was required. As of January 1, 2011, the signature of the defendant "or any person who appears to be a member of the same household verifying receipt of the document is required".

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Educating one Consumer at a time

In a small claim in Ontario, the defendant must be served a copy of the plaintiff's claim and supporting documents. When those documents are successfully served on the defendant, the person who served the documents would fill out an affidavit of service, which is proof to the court that the documents were in fact served. This affidavit of service must be filed with the court in order for a default judgment to be issued. So if there was an affidavit of service filed, then you are most likely going to have to pay the debt. If there was no affidavit filed, then you may have a case. You'll have to go to the court house with as much detail as you have and tell the clerk the situation, or hire a lawyer or paralegal to take care of it.

Because you were on the lease, you were responsible for rent payments for the entire term of the lease. It does not matter that your roommate blew the rent money. That would be between you and him. You would have to settle your debt with the landlord, and then sue your ex-friend for the money he gambled away.

The landlord would be entitled to interest pursuant to the courts of justice act, or if there was an interest rate specified in the lease agreement then the landlord would be entitled to that interest rate.

You may have to file for a motion to set aside default judgment and noting in default. I would contact the court house and ask what your steps should be.

Hey everyone.....Im new here thought id look for some advice.

So I never really needed credit before and I knew I had some things there that I would need to take care of so I went and got a copy of my credit report.

What I found was somewhat confusing....
On my credit report was a Judgement from an apartment complex that I lived in. The Credit report shows the Origional Owing as $683
I had never been served and I am assuming from reading other claims that a default judgement had been put against me.

The story behind it all is a hard lesson for me. I had a roommate who wasnt on the lease. I got a Job out west and he asked if he could stay the last month of the lease at my place. I told him I didnt have a problem with that and even sent him the $700 rent money to pay them at the time.
Turns out he had a gambling problem I wasnt aware of. He took the money I sent to pay the rent, and blew it. 5 years later Im finding all this out and that a judgement is now against me.

I contacted the Property Management group, whose ownership has changed hands since the judgement was issued and at first they had no record of me owning any money. I explained what I had found out about my previous friend and let them know I wanted to get it taken care of so I could get it off my credit report.
The company said they did find the judgement and that their lawyer had come back with an amount but that amount was like $1400. Including court costs and interest???

So do i have any chance going back to the courts, letting them know that I wasnt served and that first off I shouldnt have to pay "sherriff's fees" for soemthing they didnt even do, secondly what kind of interest can this company charge me? Should I pay the company directly or should I go right to the court house and get what I owe there?

Any advice would be a great help, I want to buy my first house and cant because of some asshole friend who screwed me over....

Thanks